INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when he last visited each British Overseas Territory; and whether he has plans for future visits.

Gareth Thomas: I visited Montserrat in June of last year. I have no immediate plans for any further visits to the Overseas Territories.

British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on his Department's plans further to improve transport links that would encourage tourism in each of the overseas territories.

Gareth Thomas: A new airport financed jointly by DFID and the European Union, became operational in Montserrat earlier this year. Last March, I announced plans for an airport in St. Helena, subject to satisfactory contract bids and a rigorous environmental assessment.

Cayman Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what actions are being taken by his Department to limit the effect of natural disasters on the Cayman Islands.

Gareth Thomas: We are supporting a project, which includes an adviser based in the Caribbean, aimed at improving and strengthening disaster preparedness in all UK Overseas Territories in the region. In the particular case of the Cayman Islands, we also funded a study of the impact of Hurricane Ivan to help learn from the Cayman Islands' experience of handling the emergency.

Cayman Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much financial assistance was directed to the Cayman Islands after they were struck by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004.

Gareth Thomas: Her Majesty's Government's assistance totalled approximately £250,000, provided in response to the immediate humanitarian need. This included the cost of deploying naval vessels in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane and the provision of essential water and medical supplies, plus help with the costs of a contingent from the Bermuda Regiment to help with the clean-up operation. We also offered advice to the Cayman Islands authorities in handling the emergency and we have since funded a review of the hurricane's impact.

Damages

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr. Hayes) of 15 November 2005, Official Report, columns1077–78W, on damages, why (a) compensation was paid to pensioners for arrears of payment, (b) interest and a penalty payment was made to the Inland Revenue and (c) compensation was paid to a member of staff for personal effects; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: Compensation was paid to pensioners to recompense them for the reduced pensions they received. Incorrect exchange rates were used in the calculation of their pensions, which resulted in them being paid lower rates of pension than they were due. Besides paying the arrears, DFID paid compensation for their losses.
	Payment of interest and a penalty were made, as required by the Inland Revenue, for backdated national insurance contributions that had not been paid correctly by DFID.
	Compensation was paid to a member of staff for the loss of personal effects which had been placed in store at DFID expense, under the terms of the employment contract while she was working in one of our offices overseas. An administrative error resulted in invoices never being received by DFID, leading the storage company sub-contracted by DFID's freight contractor eventually to sell the effects to cover their costs. DFID's payment was a contribution to the total loss, with the bulk of the compensation paid by our freight contractor.

Departmental Consultants/Special Advisers

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) consultants and (b) special advisers were employed by his Department in each year since 1997; what the cost of each was in each year; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: For details of the consultancy contracts awarded by DFID since 1997 to assist with international development, I refer the hon. Member to the response I have given to the hon. Member for St. Ives (Andrew George) on 28 November 2005, Official Report, column 55W.
	Since 2003, the Government have published on an annual basis, the names and overall cost of special advisers and the number in each pay band. For the most recent information I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 July 2005, Official Report, columns 158–62WS.
	Information on the numbers of special advisers prior to 2003 was provided at regular intervals and this information is available in the Libraries of the House.

Direct Budgetary Support

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much money the UK has granted for non-poverty reduction direct budgetary support in each year since 1999, broken down by country recipient.

Gareth Thomas: The following table gives details of DFID spending on direct budget support to UK overseas territories since 1999, with the objectives of maximising economic growth, meeting basic needs on the way to self-sufficiency and supporting good governance.
	
		Budgetary aid to Dependent Territories -- £
		
			 Montserrat  
		
		
			 1999–2000 8,232,403 
			 2000–01 5,740,000 
			 2001–02 7,605,000 
			 2002–03 11,265,000 
			 2003–04 12,450,653 
			 2004–05 10,132,664 
			   
			 St. Helena  
			 1999–2000 5,456,920 
			 2000–01 6,233,728 
			 2001–02 6,019,419 
			 2002–03 5,936,656 
			 2003–04 6,814,138 
			 2004–05 10,024,489

Low-paid Home Workers

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial support his Department has given to organisations assisting low paid home workers in developing countries in the last two years.

Gareth Thomas: For the period 2004–06, DFID is providing £500,000 to support HomeWorkers Worldwide to build the capacity of regional organisation in Latin America, South Asia and Eastern Europe who are working to improve the economic and social conditions of poor women home based workers. This builds on support given to the organisation between 2001–04 to map home based work and establish independent organisations of home based workers in 13 countries.
	Home based workers also benefit from many other programmes aimed at improving the livelihoods and labour conditions of poor workers. Examples include: DFID's support to the technical assistance programme of the International Labour Organisation; and support to the work of the Ethical Trading Initiative whose corporate, trade union and NGO members are collaborating in a project to develop guidelines for ethical trading where homeworkers are included in the supply chains of corporate members.

Montserrat

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress his Department has made towards the goal set out in its publication Montserrat: Country Policy Plan 2004–05 to 2006–07 to achieve improved public information and publicity.

Gareth Thomas: A number of initiatives are being implemented by the Government of Montserrat to facilitate public access to information. These include the development of websites for Government News and Information, the Tourism Department, the Economic Development Unit, the Government Radio Station and the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. An e-Government Strategy has been drafted, which will further enhance the public availability of Montserrat Government information. Information and Communication Technology has been identified as a priority area for funding from Montserrat's 9th European Development Fund allocation.

St. Helena

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what rules govern the application for land purchase licences by those holding official Government positions in St. Helena, with particular reference to potential conflicts of interest.

Gareth Thomas: For officials holding 'islander' status, there are no restrictions apart from the general prohibition in Order 84 of the St. Helena Public Service Orders. This forbids the abuse of office to further personal interests. For officials who do not hold 'islander' status, there are requirements for: (a) a licence from the Governor in Council, under the Immigrants Landholding (Restriction) Ordinance; and (b) concurrent permission of the Governor and the Secretary of State, in accordance with Order 81 of St.Helena Public Service Orders.

St. Helena

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1600W, on St.Helena, what evidence he assessed from (a) Dr.Philip Ashmole and (b) the St. Helena conservation officer Vince Williams before reaching his conclusion that the giant earwig is extinct.

Gareth Thomas: I refer the hon. member for Lewes to the response which I gave on of 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1600W, in which was explained that the giant earwig is believed to be extinct, not that it is extinct. My understanding is that this is the view currently held by professional entomologists, who are familiar with this species and its habitat. We have frequent contact with Dr.Ashmole and with environmental officials in the Government of St. Helena.

St. Helena

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1599W, on St. Helena, for what reason a public inquiry has been ruled out.

Gareth Thomas: I understand that legislation in St.Helena does not provide for a public inquiry process. Submissions for planning approval are subject to a period of public consultation. This will apply when an application is made in respect of the airport.

St. Helena

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the estimated cost is of the proposed airport on St. Helena; and what percentage of this cost will be met by (a) his Department, (b) other UK funds, (c) public funds in St.Helena and (d) other sources.

Gareth Thomas: Our estimates have not been published, as to do so could commercially prejudice current procurement processes. Our intention is that the full cost of building the airport will be funded by DFID, subject to acceptable contract bids and a rigorous environmental impact assessment.

St. Helena

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment was made of the potential to operate feeder services from Ascension Island to St. Helena in deciding the optimum size of the proposed airport at St. Helena.

Gareth Thomas: This was considered but rejected as part of last year's feasibility study of future access options for St. Helena. Wideawake Airfield in Ascension Island is a military facility, where civilian operations are limited.

St. Helena

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1600W, on St.Helena, if he will instruct the Government of St. Helena to withdraw the requirement for members of the Planning and Development Board to sign the Official Secrets Act on the grounds of disproportionality.

Gareth Thomas: The Planning and Development Board occasionally considers material which is commercially or otherwise sensitive. The St. Helena Government have advised that the Official Secrets Act is currently the only mechanism for protecting such material within its existing legislation. We will not, therefore, be requesting the Government of St. Helena to withdraw the requirement.

St. Helena

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 29 November 2005, Official Report, column 359W, what proportion of the funding for the airstrip on St. Helena will be provided by his Department.

Gareth Thomas: The Government's intention is to fund the full cost of building the airport, subject to acceptable contract bids and a rigorous environmental impact assessment.

St. Helena

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the progress of the building of the new airport in St.Helena.

Gareth Thomas: A notice has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, seeking capability statements from suitably qualified contractors. We expect to issue an invitation to tender as early as possible in 2006, with construction starting in 2007. Work on environmental and social impact assessments, the outcome of which will be reflected in the airport design, build and operate" contract, is well under way.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Colchester Borough Council

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whose complaint gave rise to the decision by the National Audit Office on the Objection to the Accounts for year ended 31 March 2004 of Colchester borough council; what estimate he has made of the costs of investigating this complaint; and to whom the costs will fall.

Phil Woolas: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission. I will ask the chief executive to write to the hon. Member and to ensure the answer is made available in the Library of the House.

Departmental Estate

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) land and (b) property his Department (i) owns and (ii) rents in each constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information is as follows:
	(a) Land which Office of the Deputy Prime Minister owns and rents, and the constituencies in which it lies, is as follows:
	
		
			 Land Constituency (i) Owned (ii) Rented 
		
		
			 The Grange, Twenty Acre Road, Great Sankey, Warrington Warrington, South Yes — 
			 Mast Pond Wharf, Woolwich Greenwich and Woolwich Yes — 
		
	
	(b) Property which Office of the Deputy Prime Minister owns and rents, and the constituencies in which it lies, is as follows:
	
		
			 Property Constituency (i) Owned (ii) Rented 
		
		
			 Ashdown House, Victoria Street, London SW1 Cities of London and Westminster — Yes 
			 Eland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1 Cities of London and Westminster — Yes 
			 Part 15th floor, West Point, Manchester Stretford and Urmston — Yes 
			 Hempstead House, Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead — Yes 
			 1 High Street Glossop High Peak — Yes 
			 Building 3 BRE, Garston St. Albans — Yes 
			 Sheffield House, Stevenage Stevenage — Yes 
			 Fire Experimental Unit, Moreton-in Marsh Cotswold Yes — 
			 Hangar 97, Little Rissington Cotswold Yes — 
			 Marchington, Staffordshire Burton — Yes 
			 Fire Service College, Moreton-in -Marsh (Executive Agency) Cotswold Yes — 
			 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster (Executive Agency) Cities of London and Westminster Yes — 
			 Planning Inspectorate, Temple Quay, Bristol (Executive Agency) Bristol East — Yes 
			 Old Burlington House, Piccadilly Cities of London and Westminster Yes — 
			 New Burlington House, Piccadilly Cities of London and Westminster Yes — 
		
	
	This answer does not include buildings occupied by Government offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.

Firelink

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what inter-operability will exist at local level between the emergency services following the decision of his Department to contract O2 to undertake the provision of Firelink.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is committed to procuring a wide area radio system which meets the requirements for inter-operability and resilience of voice communications in line with the 2002 agreement between the chief officers' associations of the fire and rescue service, police and ambulance service. This provides for major incident multi-service inter-operability at strategic and tactical command levels. Both Firelink tenderers have demonstrated the capability to provide multi-service inter-operability.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has announced a preferred bidder, however a final decision has not yet been made about letting the Firelink contract.

Fire Services

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate the Government have made of the number of (a) job losses and (b) redundancies that will result from the abolition of local fire control rooms.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister estimates that around 1,000 staff (full-time equivalents) will be employed in the new control centres, subject to decisions by the employers. Currently according to figures supplied by Fire and Rescue Authorities 1,435 people are involved in providing control services, not all of whom are full-time. Some of the functions currently carried out by control room staff will remain elsewhere in Fire and Rescue Services. The number of job losses will depend on decisions made by the employers.
	It is not possible to say whether there will be redundancies and if so how many. This will depend on a number of factors including how many staff choose to transfer to the new control centres, how many leave existing control rooms or retire before the creation of the new centres, and how many are redeployed.

Fire Services

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects each regional fire control centre to be operational; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The current FiReControl timetable schedules all regional controls to be rolled out in 2008 and 2009. A new timetable will be drawn up shortly, when contracts have been awarded for the provision of infrastructure services.
	The first three regions (south west, north east and east Midlands) will go live simultaneously and the remainder will become operational in the following order:
	South East,
	West Midlands,
	North West,
	East of England,
	Yorkshire and Humberside,
	London.

Local Government

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the Government's plans for unitary local government; and whether the Government intend to propose (a) unitary districts and (b) unitary counties.

Phil Woolas: We are considering the arguments for changes to the local government structure in county areas. We have no decisions thus far.

Public Service Agreements

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what method he will use to consolidate the data needed to assess 2004 public service agreement target number 1.

Jim Fitzpatrick: This is very clearly set out in the PSA 1 technical note published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in November 2004, and available on both the ODPM's website and on HM Treasury's website. It sets out the data sources for each of the floor targets that underpin our PSA 1 target and the frequency of data updates.

Public Service Agreements

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister why an 11-year average starting in 1999 is used to measure performance against 2004 public service agreement target number 3.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The 11-year period was chosen to provide consistency across Government with the time scales for other healthier nation" targets, as set out in the 1999 White Paper Saving lives: Our healthier nation".

Social Services Funding

Frank Field: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Wigan (Mr. Turner) of 24 November 2005, Official Report, column 2238W, on social services funding, if he will extend the table to include the relevant data for Wirral local authority.

Phil Woolas: The information is as follows.
	
		£ per person
		
			  Personal social services for younger adults FSS per person aged 18 to 64 Personal social services for children FSS per person aged 0 to 17 Personal social services for older people FSS per person aged 65 and over Total personal social services FSS per person 
		
		
			 Inner London boroughs including the City of London 212.04 1,141.53 1,385.83 519.66 
			 Outer London boroughs 134.21 498.33 858.63 312.52 
			 Metropolitan districts 126.04 406.49 860.18 305.85 
			 Wigan 109.30 295.17 880.77 263.99 
			 Salford 142.48 471.94 1,021.78 355.46 
			 Knowsley 145.43 595.74 1,062.50 397.77 
			 South Tyneside 134.12 467.19 902.12 347.39 
			 Leeds 121.32 358.01 762.24 271.72 
			 Wolverhampton 134.11 453.09 934.74 342.46 
			 Wirral 124.71 423.99 789.29 311.73

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Departmental Tendering Policy

Martin Horwood: To ask the Leader of the House what his policy is on including (a) ethical and (b) environmental factors in tenders for services.

Nigel Griffiths: In tendering for services, the Office of the Leader of the House has regard to the rules and general principles of community law deriving from the EC Treaty that apply to all procurement by public bodies.
	The general principles of Community law are: non-discrimination, equal treatment, transparency, proportionality and mutual recognition.

Members' Salaries

Michael Fallon: To ask the Leader of the House how many different salary levels may be paid to hon. Members, including those for Select and Standing Committee Chairmen; and how many hon. Members are in each band.

Nigel Griffiths: 641 hon. Members are entitled to the full parliamentary salary of £59,095. (This excludes the five Sinn Fein Members who do not receive a salary). In addition, 31 Select Committee Chairmen are paid £13,107 per year and, since 1 November 2005, 30 Members of the Chairmen's Panel are paid according to length of service on the Panel as follows:
	Under one year: £2,165 (12 hon. Members)
	one to three years: £7,340 (three hon. Members)
	three to five years: £9,960 (five hon. Members)
	Over five years: £13,107 (10 hon. Members)
	Members of the Chairmen's Panel who are also Select Committee Chairmen only receive the Select Committee Chairmen's salary.
	These figures exclude those Members paid salaries out of the ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Estate

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what (a) land and (b) property her Department (i) owns and (ii) rents in each constituency; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Department for Culture Media and Sport owns a section of land adjoining the British Library in London.
	The Department owns the freeholds to the following properties:
	
		
			 Property Constituency 
		
		
			 Blythe House, 23 Blythe Road,  London W14 OQX Hammersmith and Fulham 
			 20, 21, 22, 23 and 29 Park Windsor Windsor 
			 St. Fairview Cottage, Windsor Windsor 
			 9 St. Mark's Place. Windsor 
		
	
	The Department rents the following properties in central London for its office accommodation:
	
		
			 Property Constituency 
		
		
			 1a, Cockspur Street, London SW1A  5DY Cities of London and Westminster 
			 2–4 Cockspur Street, London SW1A  5DY Cities of London and Westminster 
			 Grove House 2–6 Orange Street,  London WC2H 7ED Cities of London and Westminster 
			 Queen's Yard, Tottenham Court  Road Holborn and St. Pancras 
			 55 Blandford Street, London W1U  7HW Cities of London and Westminster 
		
	
	The Royal Parks Agency owns the following properties:
	
		
			 Property Constituency 
		
		
			 Victoria Tower Gardens, London,  SW1P 3JA Cities of London and Westminster 
			 Brompton Cemetery, Old Brompton  Road, London, SW5 9JE Kensington and Chelsea 
		
	
	The agency does not rent any properties.

Departmental Tendering Policy

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her policy is on including (a) ethical and (b) environmental factors in tenders for services.

David Lammy: DCMS Terms and Conditions for Services include the subjects of 'Prevention of Corruption' and 'Discrimination'. It is already the policy in DCMS for all catering to make use of Fair Trade goods and provisions wherever possible.
	The Department requires bidders to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire which incorporates questions about their environmental capabilities. This is assessed prior to selection of candidates to participate in the tendering process.
	DCMS alongside other Government Departments is developing a sustainable development strategy. Part of that strategy will be to take guidance from the OGC/DEFRA Joint Note on Environmental Issues in Purchasing. DCMS has also been taking guidance from the list of Quick Win" environmentally friendly products supplied by OGC Buying Solutions and the toolkits currently being devised by DEFRA.

Licensing

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many and what proportion of licensed premises have applied for a variation extending their licensing hours under the Licensing Act 2003.

James Purnell: We do not hold the information in the form requested. However, initial feedback from licensing authorities suggests that around 40 per cent. of premises in England and Wales that converted their old licences, also applied for variations including, but not exclusively, extensions to hours. This would equate to about 57,000 premises.
	From an ongoing survey of licensing authorities in England and Wales in relation to pubs, bars and nightclubs, we estimate that two-thirds (about 54,000) will have secured licences for a variety of hours beyond 11 pm and that about 80 per cent. of these (or about 43,000) will have terminal hours of 1 am or earlier.

Licensing

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate the Government have made of the average cost to (a) village halls and community centres and (b) sports clubs of applying for a full premises licence and personal licences under the Licensing Act 2003.

James Purnell: We do not hold the information in the form requested. Under the Licensing Act 2003, premises apply for a one-off premises licence and then pay an annual charge for their licence thereafter. The charge is based on the rateable value of the property. The current fee structure for these two payments is as follows:
	
		£
		
			 Rateable value bands Main application fee Main annual charge 
		
		
			 A 100 70 
			 B 190 180 
			 C 315 295 
			 D 450 320 
			 E 635 350 
		
	
	The fee relating to an application for a personal licence has been set at £37 to be paid every 10 years. This would not be paid by sports clubs that hold club premises certificates.
	The regulatory impact assessment that accompanies the fees regulations states that non commercial premises such as village and community halls and sports clubs tend to fall in fee bands A and B which should not place an undue or disproportionate burden on the premises affected. In addition, no fee is payable by a village hall or community centre if it intends only to put on entertainment. The Licensing Act 2003 also brings deregulatory benefits, reducing the number of administrative licensing processes under the previous arrangements by almost tenfold. This benefits village halls, community centres and sports clubs by removing the need to apply for several licences and permissions and allows them to offer a wider range of activities to their users and members under a single licence. Once the new licence is obtained, there will be no more form filling for committees unless the hall or sports club wish to change their licence.
	As part of our arrangements for monitoring the impact of the Licensing Act 2003, an Independent Licensing Fees Review Panel has been established to consider the impact of fees on a wide range of stakeholders, including village and community halls and sports clubs. The panel will deliver an interim report shortly, followed by a Final report in autumn 2006 detailing findings and where appropriate making recommendations for the development of the licensing fees regime. We will consider carefully the evidence from these exercises and any recommendations to help community and village halls and sports clubs operate within the new regime.

TREASURY

Bank Accounts (Foreign Nationals)

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what role his Department has in monitoring bank accounts held in the UK by foreign politically exposed persons which are thought to hold funds derived from corrupt activities or theft of state assets;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 22 November 2005, Official Report, column 1911W, on overseas public assets, whether his Department has undertaken analysis based on financial reporting of the amount of money circulating in the UK financial system which is derived from the illicit acquisition of foreign states' public assets.

Ivan Lewis: As part of its objective to promote efficient, stable, and fair financial markets the Treasury has lead responsibility for ensuring that the UK's anti-money laundering controls meet the requisite international standards, and are effective in their operation. Treasury approved guidance available to the financial services sector highlights the importance of a risk-based approach to politically exposed persons. The Financial Services Authority ensures that financial service providers are compliant with the obligations placed on them
	The analysis of financial reporting on customer relationships and transactions involving politically exposed persons that are perceived to be suspicious is carried out by NCIS. Channels of communication exist for law enforcement and Government Departments to receive, and comment or act upon the products of NCIS analysis.

Corporation Tax

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much corporation tax was raised frombusiness in Northamptonshire in each year since 1997.

Ivan Lewis: The information is not available to estimate the amount of corporation tax raised from business in Northamptonshire in each year since 1997.

Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Paymaster General will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 5 October.

Dawn Primarolo: I have replied to the hon. Member.

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Valuation Office Agency's Automated Value Model computer database will be used by the Northern Ireland Valuation and Lands Agency for the purpose of its rates revaluation.

David Hanson: In the absence of my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith), I have been asked to reply.
	The Valuation and Lands Agency is not using the Valuation Office Agency's Automated Valuation Model computer database nor any valuation models constructed by Valuation Office Agency to value properties in Northern Ireland in connection with its rates revaluation. It has constructed its own regional valuation models to apply to its own local property database.

Departmental Expenditure

Martin Horwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Department and its agencies have spent on (a) the design and production of new logos and (b) employing external (i) public relations and (ii) graphic design agencies in each year since 2000, broken down by project.

Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) on 18 October 2005, Official Report, column 932W, which set out the total spending on rebranding by the Chancellor's Departments and their agencies in the last five financial years. Further analysis of spending on rebranding into the headings requested and by project, and analysis by project of any spending under those headings for purposes other than rebranding, could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

National Insurance

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue was obtained from national insurance contributions in each of the last three years.

Dawn Primarolo: National insurance contribution receipts are published in Table PSF6 of Public Sector Finances. A link to the most recent publication is given as follows.
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/psf1105.pdf

Office of National Statistics

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of making the Office for National Statistics independent on its staff working at the Titchfield office.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the Chancellor's written answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham (Paul Clark) on 28 November 2005, Official Report, column 79W.

Private Pensions

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the net cost of tax relief on private pensions was in the last year for which figures are available; what proportion of UK gross domestic product that figure represents; and what the projected figures are in each case for (a) 2010, (b) 2020, (c) 2030, (d) 2040 and (e) 2050.

Ivan Lewis: Latest estimates of cost of tax relief on contributions to occupational pension schemes are included in table 7.9 of the HMRC website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/pensions/7_9_sep05.pdf.
	Latest figures for UK gross domestic product, for comparison, can be obtained from the HMT website: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk./economic_data_and tools/gdp_deflators/data_gdp_fig.cfm.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1) what guarantees were (a) sought from and (b) given by EDS in respect of the tax credits IT project within one month of the introduction of the new tax credits system in 2003; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what written undertakings and assurances were sought from EDS by (a) his Department and (b) the Inland Revenue prior to the new tax credits system going live in 2003; when these assurances were (i) sought and (ii) given; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Before the IT system supporting tax credits went into live running on 7 April 2003, the Inland Revenue received assurances and commitments from EDS that the IT system would be available and performing as expected, and would be fit for the purpose of supporting tax credits.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the late change requests to the tax credits IT project made between April 2002 and April 2003, including those made by the Inland Revenue project board and policy board.

Dawn Primarolo: In a large-scale project of this sort there are inevitably many change requests as specific issues arise. The information is not available in the form requested.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for how many months the IT project for the Inland Revenue's new 2003 tax credits system was assessed as red light before April 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: IR classified this project as having a red risk status from July 2001. This classification reflected the large and complicated nature of the project and the necessity for project risks to be properly managed. OGC's review of the project indicated that risks were being well managed.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the dates since the beginning of 2002 on which his Ministers met (a) EDS and (b) revenue officials to discuss the IT problems with the new tax credits system.

Dawn Primarolo: Treasury ministers held regular meetings to discuss tax credits issues with Inland Revenue and HMRC officials in the period from January 2002. There were no meetings between Ministers and EDS to discuss tax credits.

Tax Credits

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the legal status of additional wife/wives/husband(s) is in relation to applications for tax credits;
	(2)  if he will set out the criteria for additional wife/wives/husband(s) in relation to applications for tax credits.

Dawn Primarolo: Where a man and a woman are married under a law which permits polygamy, and either of them has an additional spouse, the Tax Credits (Polygamous Marriages) Regulations 2003 allow them to claim tax credits as a polygamous unit. It is only those in legal polygamous unions who are covered by these regulations and there is no provision for those in less formal arrangements to claim as a polygamous unit.

Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in how many cases where action was taken to prevent automatic recovery where a claimant disputed an overpayment of tax credits automatic recovery ceased within (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four, (e) five and (f) six weeks of the overpayment being disputed in the last year for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 17 November
	New procedures to allow HM Revenue and Customs to suspend the recovery of disputed tax credits overpayments were introduced on 7 November 2005. The Tax Credit Office will now take action to prevent recovery until it has looked into the case and made a decision.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when a Minister in his Department (a) last met and (b) next expects to meet representatives from the voluntary sector to discuss tax credits.

Dawn Primarolo: Treasury Ministers meet representatives from the voluntary sector on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues.

Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in how many tax credit cases the claimant received an award notice stating that the claimant had no qualifying children but that an award of maximum child tax credit had been made in (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06 to date.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs do not know of any instances where maximum child tax credit payments had been made and there were no qualifying children shown on award notices.
	If the right hon. Gentleman has a specific case in mind, then I will investigate it if he will write to me with the details.

Tax Credits

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in how many cases in Scotland where tax credit overpayments have been disputed (a) they have been written off, (b) additional tax credits have been awarded to deal with hardship and (c) claimants in receipt of additional tax credits due to hardship have also (i) disputed their overpayment and (ii) had it written off in (A) 2003–04, (B) 2004–05 and (C) 2005–06 to date.

Dawn Primarolo: The information is not available in the format requested.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon.Member for Yeovil on 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 331W.

Tax Credits

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in how many cases in Scotland HM Revenue and Customs and its predecessors applied to the Appeals Service under section 32(1) and (2) of, and Schedule 2 to, the Tax Credits Act 2002 for a summons against an individual for failing to provide information or evidence or failing to comply with a requirement regarding a final notice in (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06 to date.

Dawn Primarolo: To the end of October HMRC has made one application in 2005–06 for a summons against an individual under section 32(1) and (2) of, and Schedule 2 to, the Tax Credits Act 2002. No such applications were made in 2003–04 or 2004–05.

Tax Credits

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total number of overpayments is in Scotland due to official errors in the new tax credit system; and what their value was in each year since April 2003.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates for 2003–04 of the numbers of in-work families with tax credits awards, including information on overpayments and underpayments by constituency, based on final family circumstances and incomes for 2003–04 are published in Child and Working Tax Credits. Finalised Awards. 2003–04 Geographical Analysis." This publication and provisional estimates for the number of in-work families by constituency with tax credit awards as at selected dates in 2004–05 are available on the HMRC website at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats.htm
	Estimates of numbers of overpayments or underpayments for 2004–05 awards at 5 April 2005 will not be available until after family circumstances and incomes for 2004–05 have been finalised.
	A breakdown of the causes of these overpayments is not available.

Tax Credits

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the value of unclaimed income-related tax credit, in each of the past five years, broken down by tax credit.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of the value of unclaimed Working Families' Tax Credit entitlements for 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2002–03 are available on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/wftc/takeup_rates.htm (table 2 of each annual publication). Analysis of the value of unclaimed tax credit entitlements for 2003–04 is ongoing and we expect this work to be completed towards the end of 2005–06.

Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will give a full reply to the letter of the right hon. Member for Birkenhead regarding the tax credits of his constituents, Mr. and Mrs. Holland, sent on 1 November.

Dawn Primarolo: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 30 November 2005.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many separate payments are included in the aggregate settlement agreed with Electronic Data Systems on tax credits; and when these payments fall due;
	(2)  whether the aggregate settlement with Electronic Data Systems (EDS) on tax credits involves changes to the payments made to EDS by HM Revenue and Customs.

Dawn Primarolo: The settlement agreement reached between HM Revenue and Customs and EDS is commercial-in-confidence as is normal with settlements of this sort.

Tax Yields

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will estimate the extra annual yield in 2005–06 had the (a) landfill tax, (b) vehicle excise duty, (c) air passenger duty and (d) fuel duty been raised in line with (i) the GDP deflator and (ii) GDP, (A) since its introduction and (B) since 1996–97; and what the (1)rate would be and (2) percentage difference between that rate and the current rate is in each case;
	(2)  if he will estimate the extra annual yield in 2005–06 had the (a) climate change levy and (b) aggregates tax been raised in line with (i) the GDP deflator and (ii)GDP since its introduction; and what the (A) rate would be and (B) percentage difference between that rate and the current rate is in each case.

John Healey: Reliable estimates of the extra yield or rates in 2005–06 are not available for vehicle excise duty, air passenger duty and fuel duty due to changes in the structure of these rates from their introduction and again from 1996–97. Reliable estimates of the extra yield in 2005–06 are not available for landfill tax because the actual standard rate of landfill tax differs markedly from the scenarios outlined in the question and disentangling behavioural effects would be very difficult and highly uncertain. Estimates for climate change levy and aggregates levy are shown in the following tables.
	
		£ million, rounded
		
			  Estimated extra yield in 2005–06 
			  If raised in line with GDP deflator(1) since introduction If raised in line with money GDP(1) since introduction 
		
		
			 Climate change levy—introduced in April 2001 75 150 
			 Aggregates levy—introduced in April 2002 25 50 
		
	
	Note:
	Includes behavioural effects.
	(1)Source:
	HM Treasury.
	
		
			  Rate in 2005–06 if raised in line with GDP deflator(2)since introduction Rate in 2005–06 if raised in line with money GDP(2) since introduction 
			  Pence per kWh Percentage difference from current rate Pence per kWh Percentage difference from current rate 
		
		
			 Climate change levy—introduced in April 2001 
			 Gas, coal and solid fuels 0.166 10.9 0.185 23.4 
			 Electricity 0.477 10.9 0.531 23.4 
			 LPG(3) 0.078 10.9 0.086 23.4 
			  
			 Aggregates levy—introduced in April 2002 £1.72 per tonne 7.5 £1.87 per tonne 16.8 
		
	
	(2)Source: HM Treasury.
	(3)Liquefied Petroleum Gas.
	Information on the rates of landfill tax, air passenger duty, fuel duty, climate change levy and aggregates levy is available at the UK Trade Info website: www.uktradeinfo.com/index.cfm?task=statindex
	Information on the rates of vehicle excise duty is available at the DVLA website: www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/taxation.htm
	Information on the GDP deflator and GDP is available at HM Treasury's website: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/economic_data_and_tools/data_index.cfm

Venture Capital Trusts

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of (a) the number and (b) the total asset size of venture capital trusts.

Ivan Lewis: There were 98 venture capital trusts managing funds as at September 2005, as published on the National Statistics pages of the HMRC Website (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/venture/8_6_sep05.pdf).
	Venture capital trusts have raised a total of over £2.2billion since the scheme's inception but we do not have an estimate for the current value of total assets for these funds.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State forWork and Pensions when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 26 September.

Anne McGuire: I replied to the hon. Member on 11 October 2005. I am arranging for a copy to be sent to him.

Pensioner Poverty

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners have been assessed as living in poverty in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the United Kingdom in each year since 1997.

Stephen Timms: The seventh annual 'Opportunity for all' report (Cm 6673) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and reports progress against a range of indicators.
	Information on the number of pensioners in low income is not available below regional level. The following table gives estimates for the number of pensioners in relative low income and absolute low income in the North East and in Great Britain.
	
		Number of pensioners living in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of GB median income in the North East (in millions) based on three-year rolling averages
		
			  Relative low income Absolute low income (1996–97 terms) 
			  Before housing costs After housing costs Before housing costs After housing costs 
		
		
			 1996–97 to 1998–99 0.10 0.14 0.10 0.13 
			 1997–98 to 1999–2000 0.11 0.13 0.09 0.11 
			 1998–99 to 2000–01 0.12 0.13 0.09 0.09 
			 1999–2000 to 2001–02 0.12 0.12 0.07 0.07 
			 2000–01 to 2002–03 0.11 0.11 0.06 0.06 
			 2001–02 to 2003–04 0.10 0.10 0.04 0.04 
		
	
	
		Number of pensioners living in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of GB median income in Great Britain (in millions) based on single-year estimates.
		
			  Relative low income Absolute low income (1996–97 terms) 
			  Before housing costs After housing costs Before housing costs After housing costs 
		
		
			 1996–97 2.2 2.8 2.2 2.8 
			 1997–98 2.3 2.7 2.2 2.6 
			 1998–99 2.4 2.7 2.1 2.4 
			 1999–2000 2.3 2.6 1.9 2.0 
			 2000–01 2.2 2.5 1.6 1.6 
			 2001–02 2.3 2.4 1.5 1.2 
			 2002–03 2.3 2.3 1.2 1.0 
			 2003–04 2.2 2.0 1.1 0.9 
		
	
	Notes:
	1.Figures for the North East are provided using a three-year rolled average, as single-year estimates do not provide a robust guide to year-on-year changes. Figures are therefore not the same as previously published single-year estimates and there may be differences in changes over time. Due to this, the absolute and relative figures in 1996–97 to 1998–99 will not necessarily match. In circumstances such as a change in trend, rolled averages will show less variation than single year estimates.
	2.Regional three-year rolled average figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000.
	3.The estimates use the same income measures as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' (HBAI). Income is net of income tax and council tax, and adjusted for household size and composition.
	Source:
	Family Resources Survey (FRS)

TRANSPORT

Driving (Sleep Disorders)

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what research his Department has undertaken into the medical status of individuals involved in sleep-related traffic accidents;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of road accidents caused by excessive sleepiness due to (a) obstructive sleep apnoea and (b) other sleep disorders in each of the last three years;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of adults with (a) diagnosed and (b) undiagnosed obstructive sleep disorder who hold a driving licence.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department has not undertaken research into the medical status of individuals involved in sleep-related traffic accidents. However it held an expert workshop into the medical causes of daytime sleepiness in 2002. Following that event, it has strengthened advice provided to doctors. A question on sleep disorders is now included in the medical report form that must accompany any application, and re-application (from the age of 45 years), for a vocational (i.e. heavy goods vehicle or bus/coach) driving licence.
	There is no information on the number of accidents resulting from specific sleep disorders and we have no estimate of the number of adults with sleep disorders who hold a driving licence. Research for the Department for Transport has established that sleepiness is a principal factor in 10 per cent. of all road accidents and 15–20 per cent. of all accidents on motorways.

Driving (Sleep Disorders)

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance his Department provides to (a) licensing category Group 1 drivers and (b) licensing category Group 2 drivers to increase drivers' awareness of obstructive sleep apnoea (i) at the time of initial applications for a driving licence and (ii) on renewal of a licence.

Stephen Ladyman: The Group 1 and Group 2 driving licence application forms require applicants to declare a history of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and this is reiterated in DVLA's information booklet on forms completion. Following normal medical investigations, drivers who are issued a licence, in the knowledge of OSA syndrome, are sent information pointing out the dangers of driving while drowsy and the need to report any deterioration to DVLA. Information is also provided to their general practitioner. This process is repeated at licence renewal.
	DVLA has produced an information leaflet about the danger of tiredness and driving for use in sleep clinics.
	All medical practitioners have access to the DVLA handbook At a Glance Guide to the Current Medical Standards of Fitness to Drive". The most up-to-date version can be found on DVLA's website at www.dvla.gov.uk and includes information on obstructive sleep apnoea.

Driving (Sleep Disorders)

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many doctors have approached the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency on behalf of patients with diagnosed symptomatic sleep disorders in the last five years.

Stephen Ladyman: These data are not available.

Driving (Sleep Disorders)

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many drivers have informed the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency of diagnosed symptomatic sleep disorders in the last five years.

Stephen Ladyman: Data are available only in relation to the number of DVLA inquiries about Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA). The following figures show separately the number of cases where OSA was the only medical condition, and where OSA combined with another relevant medical condition was declared.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2000  
			 Sleep Apnoea only 666 
			 Sleep Apnoea with another relevant notifiable condition 527 
			   
			 2001  
			 Sleep Apnoea only 1,097 
			 Sleep Apnoea with another relevant notifiable condition 616 
			   
			 2002  
			 Sleep Apnoea only 2,059 
			 Sleep Apnoea with another relevant notifiable condition 881 
			   
			 2003  
			 Sleep Apnoea only 1,724 
			 Sleep Apnoea with another relevant notifiable condition 701 
			   
			 2004  
			 Sleep Apnoea only 3,483 
			 Sleep Apnoea with another relevant notifiable condition 1,137

Growth Areas Directorate

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Department has a growth areas directorate.

Stephen Ladyman: A team of officials in the Department's regional and local transport delivery directorate is responsible for overseeing the delivery of transport infrastructure in the growth areas. They have close working relations with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which has lead responsibility for the sustainable communities plan agenda.

Public Transport Usage (London)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of how many commuters travelled on public transport in London in each month since January 2002.

Karen Buck: Overall responsibility for transport in London rests with the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL). TfL have provided information on London Buses, London Underground and the Docklands Light Railway, which has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Rail Regional Planning Assessments

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) original and (b) expected completion dates of the rail regional planning assessments are.

Derek Twigg: The original completion dates of the rail Regional Planning Assessments (RPA) were published by the SRA in October 2003. At that time it was anticipated that the programme would be complete by December 2005. I am currently considering the drafts of the North East England RPA and Eastern RPA with a view to publication shortly. An updated programme will be published after the publication of these first two RPAs.

Roads

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what role the regional assemblies have in prioritising the construction of new road building schemes of national importance in their region.

Stephen Ladyman: Regional assemblies are consulted on major road schemes on the strategic road network within their regions, including schemes on routes of national importance, before decisions are taken on whether to add such schemes to the Highway's Agency's targeted programme of trunk road improvements.

Roads

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the Department expects to publish the results of the Demonstration of Interoperable Road user End-to-end Charging and Telematics Systems project.

Stephen Ladyman: We expect to publish results from the DIRECTS (Demonstration of Interoperable Road user End-to-end Charging and Telematics Systems) project, assuming data capture and analysis continue to go well, in the 4th quarter of 2006.

Roads

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance and best practice manuals his Department has produced for local authorities' highway departments on (a) speed cameras and (b) traffic-calming measures.

Stephen Ladyman: The information is as follows.
	(a) General guidance on the use of speed cameras was originally contained in Circular Roads 1/92 and 1/95. The Department has since introduced strict criteria to govern the deployment of cameras operating within the National Safety Camera Programme. These are contained in a Handbook of Rules that has been issued to every Safety Camera partnership in England and Wales. A copy is available in the House Library.
	(b) The Department's Traffic Calming Bibliography, Traffic Advisory Leaflet 2/05 published in January this year, lists the main items of published advice and research into the design, use and effectiveness of traffic calming measures. Copies of this leaflet are available in the House Library.
	In addition, a Local Transport Note on Traffic Calming is being drafted. This will summarise existing information on the design and effectiveness of traffic calming measures. The Department plans to publish this Local Transport Note early next year.

Road Traffic (London)

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the average speed travelled by private cars in London in (a) 1999–2000 and (b) 2004–05.

Stephen Ladyman: Estimates are available for average traffic speeds in London and are derived from speed surveys conducted on a three-year cycle by Transport for London. These surveys measure the average speed of all traffic. Speeds by individual vehicle class such as cars are not available.
	Average traffic speeds for the periods 1997–2000 and 2003–06 are as follows:
	
		Average traffic speeds in London 1997–2006 -- Miles per hour
		
			  Central area Inner area Outer area All areas 
		
		
			 Morning peak period 
			 1997–2000 10.0 12.0 18.2 15.9 
			 2003–06 10.6 11.7 — — 
			  
			 Daytime off-peak period   
			 1997–2000 10.0 14.8 21.9 18.5 
			 2003–06 10.5 14.1 — — 
			  
			 Evening peak period 
			 1997–2000 10.2 11.4 19.1 16.2 
			 2003–06 10.6 12.3 — — 
		
	
	The 2003–06 cycle is not complete and the outer area survey information is not yet available.

School Buses

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of safety provisions in legislation covering the use of buses transporting children to school with particular reference to safety of buses (a) with more than 16 seats and (b) carrying older pupils.

Stephen Ladyman: Government statistics distinguish accidents involving mini-buses from those involving larger passenger vehicles but are unable to differentiate those accidents involving buses from those involving coaches. Similarly, the statistics do not differentiate between organised school transport and regular bus services carrying children to school.
	With respect to children (12 to 15), and making no distinction for the time of day at which the accident occurred, there was an average of 0.4 fatalities and 20 serious injuries per year for the period 1994–98. In 2004 there was one fatality and 18 serious injuries. These figures reduce slightly if we consider the peak time of day for school transport. Considering only the period 7am to 10 am and 3 pm to 6 pm during weekdays, serious injuries reduce to 15.
	The figures are lower for the younger age group (0 to 11) where the 1994–98 average was 0.2 fatalities and 14 serious injuries. In 2004 the figures for this group were 0fatalities and nine serious injuries, reducing to eight during the peak school transport period.
	Buses and coaches are the safest mode of personal/passenger road transport, when considering the number killed and seriously injured (KSI) with respect to the number of kilometres travelled. Figures for 2003 indicate that the rate of KSI per billion kilometres travelled was 10 for bus and coach travel compared with 27 for passenger cars, 534 for cyclists and 443 for pedestrians.
	The Government is committed to improving child road safety. In 2000 it set itself a challenging target to reduce, by 2010, the KSI child casualties (0 to 15 years) to 50 per cent. of the 1994 to 1998 average. The data indicate that in 2004 there were 3,905 KSI child casualties. This represents a reduction of 43 per cent. on the baseline and we are therefore well on track to meet or exceed our target.

Seat Belts

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many copies were issued of the consultation document published by his Department in 2004 on changes to seat belt wearing regulations; if he will place responses in the Library; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will list the (a) organisations and (b) individuals who were sent a copy of the consultation document published by his Department in 2004 on changes to seat belt wearing regulations; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if he will list the (a) organisations and (b) individuals who requested a copy of the consultation document published by his Department in 2004 on changes to seat belt wearing regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: This consultation document concerns seat belt wearing in buses and coaches. It was published in September 2004, and 278 copies were then issued by the Department.
	The consultation document is available on-line at: www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/documents/divisionhomepage/039143.hcsp
	The Department's decision following consultation, including a Summary of Responses, was published on 19 July 2005 and has been placed in the Library. It is also on the Department's website.
	A list of the consultees is available at annex B to the consultation document. No records are available for those who subsequently requested a copy of the document or downloaded it from the website.
	Regulations are in preparation to come into force in 2006 (subject to parliamentary approval) to require seated passengers aged three years and above to use seat belts where they are available in the larger buses and coaches. Seat belt wearing is already a requirement in vehicles below 2,450 kgs unladen weight (roughly 16 seats) where they are installed.

Tintwistle Bypass

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he made of traffic levels on the (a) M62 and (b) A628 Mottram in Longdendale, Hollingworth and Tintwistle bypass immediately after the opening of the bypass.

Stephen Ladyman: The Highways Agency has estimated the traffic levels on the M62, between Junctions 22 to 23, and A628 Mottram in Longdendale, Hollingworth and Tintwistle bypass immediately after opening of the bypass in 2010. These are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Route Annual average daily traffic (AADT) per day 
		
		
			 M62  
			 Junction 22 to 23 111,350 
			   
			 A628 Mottram in Longdendale, Hollingworth and Tintwistle 
			 Bypass around Mottram in Longdendale 42,600 
			 Bypass around Hollingworth and Tintwistle 20,800

Transport Staff (Abuse)

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 22 November 2005, Official Report, column 1867W, on transport staff (abuse), when his Department expects to have in place a reliable method of monitoring levels of violence on buses; and when his Department expects to resume recording this information.

Alistair Darling: holding answer 1 December 2005
	The Department for Transport is working with the Safer Travel on Buses Panel to identify a workable method of collecting and reporting reliable data on crime on buses. Once a method is fully worked up we will be in a position to say when we will resume reporting information.

PRIME MINISTER

Iraq

Tim Loughton: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer to question 33139, on how many occasions and in what locations he has visited UK military personnel in hospital who have been wounded in Iraq.

Michael Ancram: To ask the Prime Minister on how many occasions he has visited wounded soldiers since May; and in which locations.

Tony Blair: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) on 29 November 2005, Official Report, column 289W.

Ministers' Salaries

Michael Fallon: To ask the Prime Minister how many salary bands there are for Ministers; and how many Ministers are in each band.

Tony Blair: The number and level of salaries available for ministerial posts are set out in the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975, as amended.

Official Residences

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Prime Minister if he willlistthe Ministers who have occupied each of the threeflats in Admiralty House in each year since May 1997.

Tony Blair: The three flats in Admiralty House are currently occupied by: the Deputy Prime Minister; the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and the Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal. With the exception of the Leader of the House of Commons, who took up residence in 2002, the other Ministers have been in residence since 1997. Other Ministers who occupied the flats since 1997 were the then Defence Secretary (1997–79) and the then Northern Ireland Secretary and later Minister for the Cabinet Office (2000–01).

Official Residences

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list Departments which pay council tax for Ministers who reside in official residences; and which Ministers do not have a personal council tax liability for official residences.

Michael Penning: To ask the Prime Minister which hon. Members are currently resident in publicly-owned grace and favour properties for which the Government are responsible; and at what cost to the public purse.

Tony Blair: I, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal declare our official residences as our main residence and are responsible for paying council tax on them. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and HM Treasury pay the council tax on the official residences allocated to their Ministers, because their Ministers primary residences (on which they pay council tax) are elsewhere. In addition, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) made clear to me when he stepped down from office, he would make the necessary arrangements to move out of the official residence as quickly as possible.
	The running costs of official residences are the responsibility of the relevant Department. For information on the costs of my residence, I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Southend, West (Mr. Amess) on 21 July 2005, Official Report, column 1934W.

Shrewsbury Livestock Market

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Prime Minister if he will visit Shrewsbury for the opening of the new livestock market.

Tony Blair: I have no current plans to do so.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Adoption and Children Act

David Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs for what reasons the British Association of Play Therapists was not included in consultations in relation to the Adoption and Children Act 2002, with particular reference to the role to be played by adoption support agencies.

Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	The British Association of Play Therapists was not excluded from consultations in relation to the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (the 2002 Act). These were full public consultations, open to all. Five consultation documents on the adoption and special guardianship regulations and guidance to be made under the 2002 Act were published for full public consultation in 2003–04: Arranging Adoptions and Assessing Prospective Adopters; Adoption Reports and Adoptions with a Foreign Element, Access to Information; Adoption Support and Adoption Support Agencies and Care Planning and Special Guardianship". The Adoption Support and Adoption Support Agencies" document set out the Government's proposals in relation to adoption support agencies (ASAs) and included draft Regulations and National Minimum Standards for ASAs. All of these consultation documents were fully accessible to the public on the Department for Education and Skills website, and consultation responses were invited from anyone who wished to express a view.

DEFENCE

Aircraft Carriers

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will ensure that the future aircraft carriers are in service before the retirement of the current aircraft carriers.

Adam Ingram: The in-service dates for our new aircraft carriers will not be fixed until the main investment decision is taken. It is therefore too soon to know whether there will be implications for the planned out of service dates for the Invincible class carriers.

Aircraft Carriers

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on (a) progress on the Royal Navy's future aircraft carrier (CVF) programme and (b) French involvement in the CVF programme.

Adam Ingram: The Government remain committed to providing this important capability for our armed forces. Work is continuing to mature the design, address risks and refine costs to the point at which the main investment decision can sensibly be taken and we can commit to manufacture within defined time, cost and performance parameters.
	Given that both we and France are embarking on major, complex carrier procurement projects, we are examining areas of mutual benefit and opportunities to deliver economies. It is for industry to put forward proposals which will be judged on their merits and in light of national policies. It has been agreed with France that for co-operation to work, it must deliver cost savings and must do so without delaying UK or French programmes.

Aircraft Carriers

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria the Prime Minister used in making the statement to the press that Swan Hunters should be permitted to bid for inclusion in the CVF programme.

Adam Ingram: The Government have always said that the development of an optimum shipbuild strategy for the CVF programme will be made by all alliance participants based on cost effectiveness and best long-term value for money while taking into account the capability, capacity and resources of the United Kingdom industry. No company is ruled out, but we are not prepared to give guarantees of work that could be placed with particular shipyards, as each will need to demonstrate the capability and competitiveness required to meet our needs.

Aircraft Carriers

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason the internal planning assumption for the entry into service of the first future aircraft carrier has been classified as commercially sensitive.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 30 November 2005
	As for all projects, the in-service dates for the future aircraft carriers will only be set following the main investment decision and once they have been approved by Ministers. This decision has not yet been taken, and will only be taken when we know with confidence the risks, the costs and the associated contractual framework involved in building the carriers.

Defence Documents

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) the voluntary code of conduct for European defence equipment sales and (b) the EU's Military Requirements Catalogue.

John Reid: I will place a copy of the voluntary code of conduct for European defence procurement in the Library of the House.
	I am unable to place a copy of the EU's Military Requirements Catalogue in the Library. This is a classified EU document and therefore any decision to place it in the public domain must be made collectively.
	However, I will place in the Library a copy of the Council Conclusions agreed by Ministers on 21 November, which sets out the aims of the Catalogue.

Departmental Contracts (Direct Mail)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many contracts for direct mail were signed by his Department by (a) 2005–06 to date and (b) 2004–05; and what the value was in each case.

Adam Ingram: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Estate

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) land and (b) property his Department (i) owns and (ii) rents in each constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Don Touhig: Details of the land and property owned by the Ministry of Defence are listed in the National Assets Register, a copy of which is held within the Library of the House and can also be found at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/mediastore/otherfiles/217.pdf.
	Details of land and property rented by the Ministry of Defence are not held centrally. To provide the information in the format requested would incur disproportionate cost.

Departmental Expenditure

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the Department and its agencies have spent on (a) the design and production of new logos and (b) employing external (i) public relations and (ii) graphic design agencies in each year since 2000, broken down by project.

Don Touhig: The Ministry of Defence's expenditure on External Assistance, of which consultants employed to manage PR is part, is available in the Library of the House for years 1995–96 to 2004–05. Although this is broken down by various categories, the MOD does not centrally record expenditure on external PR and other related agencies, or other costs associated with the design and production of new logos. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Procurement

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  which procurements have been cancelled by his Department since 1997; and what (a) losses were incurred and (b) the reasons were for cancellation in each case;
	(2)  if he will list defence procurements that have seen capability reductions against the initial Memorandum of Understanding; and what (a) capability modifications and (b) cost savings resulted in each case.

Adam Ingram: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Staff

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what restrictions there were on his Department's officials seeking employment with companies in the defence sector while they remain employed by the Ministry.

Adam Ingram: Members of the armed forces and Ministry of Defence officials, like other Crown servants, are required to comply with rules on the acceptance of outside business appointments if they wish to take up other employment—whether in the defence industry orelsewhere—within two years of their retirement or resignation. The rules provide for the scrutiny of applications and for the imposition of a waiting period or other conditions where there might be cause for concern. The rules for the home civil service are set out in Section 4.3 Annex B of the civil service management code, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. Corresponding requirements also apply to members of the armed forces.

Departmental Staff

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people working in his Department are on secondment from arms (a) manufacturers and (b) traders.

Adam Ingram: There are currently 20 staff seconded in to the Ministry of Defence from private industry. Information available on these staff is as follows:
	
		
			 Company Number of staff 
		
		
			 BAE Systems 3 
			 Partnerships UK 1 
			 Thales 1 
			 Rolls Royce 1 
			 Alstom 1 
			 Qinetiq 1 
			 DSTL 2 
			 Paradigm 1 
			 DML 3 
			 Halcrow Group 3 
			 Baptie Group 2 
			 Grant Thornton 1 
		
	
	Due to the size and scope of these companies it is not possible to determine whether they have come from the arms manufacturing or trading divisions within them.

Departmental Staff

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department's employees who are within one year of the official retirement age are on extended sick leave.

Don Touhig: As at 25 November 2005, 50 1 Ministry of Defence civilian employees 2 were within one year of their official retirement age and on extended sick leave 3 .
	1 Number has been rounded to the nearest 10.
	2 This includes all permanent and casual staff, but excludes Trading Fund, Locally Engaged Civilian and Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel.
	3 Extended sick leave is defined as a continuing period of sickness absence in excess of 28 days (four weeks), which is the point at which a referral should be made to occupational health.

HMS Intrepid

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to dispose of HMS Intrepid; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: It is intended to either dismantle Intrepid, or sell it on for re-use. The Disposal Services Agency (DSA) invited tenders for the dismantling of Intrepid in 2004, however none of the proposals received were deemed suitable. The DSA continues to work on identifying suitable facilities for dismantling, both in the UK and overseas. In parallel any potential opportunities for sale are being explored.

Iraq

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many medical staff serving with British armed forces in Iraq have been (a) injured and (b) killed since March 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 24 November 2005
	No serving Royal Army Medical Corps personnel have died or been killed while on Operation Telic. Three Royal Army Medical Corps personnel have been injured as a result of hostile action. No Royal Naval Medical Service personnel and no Royal Air Force Medical Service personnel have been killed or injured as a result of hostile action.

Iraq

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many servicemen have received treatment for mental health problems since serving in Iraq duringthe current conflict; and where they have been treated.

Don Touhig: holding answer 29 November 2005
	Currently available statistics show that between January 2003 and September 2005, 1,333 UK service personnel who deployed on operation Telic subsequently received treatment for mental health conditions. This represents around 1.5 per cent. of total UK service personnel deployed to the region during the same period. Out-patient treatment takes place at 13 MOD Departments of community mental health (DCMH) located throughout the UK and three satellite centres in Cyprus, Germany and Gibraltar. In-patient treatment, when required, has been provided by The Priory Group since April 2004.
	Due to data capture problems, we have been unable to include figures from DCMH Cyprus for the period June to September 2005. This will be rectified in future, but the numbers will be very small and should not significantly affect the total.

Joint Strike Fighter

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest estimate is of when the Joint Strike Fighter will be operative; and what the cost of the Joint Strike Fighter will be.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to my answers of 23 November 2005, Official Report, column 2054W, to the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis). The UK's procurement cost is likely to be up to £10billion, depending on the eventual number of aircraft required. In service support costs will be determined by whatever through life support strategy we decide to adopt.

Joint Strike Fighter

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress on introducing the joint strike fighter.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 567W, and 26 October 2005, Official Report, column 378W, to the hon. Members for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) and Congleton (Ann Winterton) respectively.

Landing Ships Dock (Auxiliary)

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the total value is of the computer systems for the four Alternative Landing Ships Logistic which are under construction;
	(2)  what proportion of the contract value of the Alternative Landing Ships Logistic being built by Swan Hunters has been placed with companies in the north east; and if he will list the (a) United Kingdom and (b) overseas subcontractors that have received orders of £500,000 and above;
	(3)  from which country the computer systems for the four Alternative Landing Ships Logistic which are under construction were procured.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence contractual relationship is with Swan Hunter, the Lead Yard Supplier for the Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary) programme and therefore its arrangements with sub-contractors are a matter for the company.

Landing Ships Dock (Auxiliary)

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Defence Procurement Agency personnel are working on the Landing Ships Dock (Auxiliary) at the Swan Hunter yard; and in what roles.

Adam Ingram: The Defence Procurement Agency employs a team of seven site surveillance engineers within the Swan Hunter shipyard which is in line with the Department's normal approach to ship build contracts. The team monitors the company's progress and performance in the build of each ship, including fabrication and commissioning activities and ensuring the vessels comply with the statutory authorities and classification societies standards.

Landing Ships Dock (Auxiliary)

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has asked BAE Systems to second personnel to work on the Landing Ships Dock (Auxiliary) at the Swan Hunter yard.

Adam Ingram: The secondment of BAE Systems personnel to work on the Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary) Project was a commercial arrangement between BAE Systems and Swan Hunter.

Lynx Helicopters

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the current Lynx fleet he expects to be used as donors for the Future Lynx project; and when he expects this process to begin.

Adam Ingram: The Future Lynx is our preferred procurement option to meet the Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft and Battlefield Reconnaissance Helicopter requirements. This is, however, subject to continuing negotiations with the company, and the main investment decision has not yet been taken. If we decide to proceed with Future Lynx, the intention is that parts would be removed from existing Lynx helicopters as they are progressively withdrawn from service, but until we can assess the condition of the parts it is not possible to say how many will be used.

Neuron Programme

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department has had with its French counterpart on the Neuron programme; and whether it is his policy that the United Kingdom will participate in the programme.

Adam Ingram: There have been no formal discussions with France about Neuron. It is not our policy to join the Neuron programme.

Noise-induced Hearing Loss

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department keeps a record of hearing tests carried out on service and ex-service personnel and their results.

Don Touhig: holding answer 10 November 2005
	Records of hearing tests and their results are held as part of an individual's personal medical record. The medical records of serving personnel are held at their unit medical centre, whereas the medical records of individuals who have left the services are held by each service at individual central locations. The Ministry of Defence does not, however, hold records of hearing tests which take place after an individual has left the services. The MOD does not hold a central database of hearing test results.

Postal Services

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the subsidised mail allowance for service personnel serving abroad; and what is the average time taken to deliver mail to troops serving in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: Postcards, letters and small packets, up to a maximum weight of 2 kg, can be sent by airmail to any member of HM forces or otherwise entitled persons serving abroad, at a concessionary rate, which is subsidised by the Ministry of Defence. For example, a 2kg packet can be sent by airmail to a British forces post office address at a cost of £7.16, whereas to send the same packet by the standard Royal Mail airmail tariff to a civilian address in Germany would cost £10.59, and, to a civilian address in world zone 1 (i.e. outside Europe) would cost £37.31.
	BFPO mail for Iraq is normally despatched six times per week by RAF aircraft. Typically, a letter posted in the United Kingdom could take one to two days to reach the BFPO sorting office in London, and a further two days to reach the British forces post office deployed in Iraq. Final receipt by the addressee is of course dependent on the operational activities of the addressee's unit, and the difficulty of effecting delivery from the forces post office, via the addressee's unit, to the named individual.

RAF Bases

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  whether the number of military aircraft using RAF Northolt in a year is restricted;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2005, Official Report, column 1250W, on RAF Northolt, how many (a) civil and (b) military aircraft landed and departed from RAF Northolt outside the hours of 8.00 am to 10.00 pm in (i) 2002, (ii) 2003 and (iii) 2004;
	(3)  pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2005, Official Report, column 1250W, on RAF Northolt, what process is used to authorise increases in the number of civilian aircraft that land and take off from RAF Northolt; who authorises such increases; and whether an increase has been authorised for 2006.

Adam Ingram: Authority for the number of civil commercial aircraft movements at RAF Northolt rests with the Ministry of Defence. Flying activity at RAF Northolt is restricted to the minimum required to meet operational and training requirements.
	Information on the number of civil and military aircraft that have landed and departed outside the hours of 8.00 am and 10.00 pm is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	There is no formal process for increasing the number of civil commercial aircraft movements at RAF Northolt. However, the hon. Member was informed by my right hon. Friend the then Minister of State for the Armed Forces (John Reid), on 30 June 1998, Official Report, columns 272–73, that any changes to the number of civil commercial aircraft movements would be subject to full consultation with the local authority and interested parties.
	No increase in the number of civil commercial flights at Northolt in 2006 has been authorised.

Reservists

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defencehow many reservists in the armed forces are teachers.

Don Touhig: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Security Passes

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people, excluding employees, have passes, other than day passes, giving access to his Department's headquarters; and by which companies these people are employed.

Don Touhig: Currently 4,585 people, representing the companies listed, hold passes allowing access to the Ministry of Defence's headquarters.
	Companies/contractors listed in alphabetical order:
	A.A. Osborn and Sons
	A.D.I. STE
	ABB
	ABB Building
	ABE (UK)Ltd
	Acorn Nursery
	Actica
	AD Fairbanks Weston
	Adecco
	Advanced Door Care
	Advanced Door Care
	Advantage
	AGS Transport
	Agustawest
	Air Research
	Allen Fencing Ltd.
	Allen Fencing Ltd.
	Alpha Health Club
	Alstom Pow
	Amazon
	Amey
	Amicus
	AMS Ltd.
	Analix
	Anite PS Consulting
	Anite PS Consulting
	Antine Bus
	Apex Security
	Aqua Air Systems
	Aquisition
	Argenta Research
	Arup
	Arup Project Managing
	Asset Management Solutions Ltd.
	Atkins
	Atlas
	Atmaana
	Ave Systems
	Avondale Construction Ltd.
	Awe
	Awe Aldermaston
	Axima
	B&P
	Babcock
	Babcock SGI Ltd.
	BAE International Systems Ltd.
	BAE System
	Ballincrie
	Banner
	Beacon Milking Systems
	Bearingpoint Ltd.
	Bell Decorators Ltd.
	Bell Group
	Benchmark
	Berkshire
	Bernard Williams Associates
	Better Bus
	BGSS
	Bishops Move Ltd.
	BMI Health
	BNFL
	Boeing
	Boon Edam
	Boon Edam Ltd.
	Bovis Lend Lease Holdings
	BPP Malpas Ltd.
	BPP Malpas
	Bray Leino
	Brey Leino
	Bright Horizons
	Briton Fire Co. Ltd.
	BRL Ltd.
	BT
	BT ATE
	BT Defence
	BT Ignite
	Burton Generators
	Burtonwood
	Burtonwood
	Business Safety Solutions Ltd.
	Bycullah
	C & F Electronical Contractors
	C&I Controls
	C&I Controls
	C&I Controls
	Cable Lift
	Cambridge
	CAN Defence Staff
	Canadian High Commission
	Canadian High Commission
	Cannon Hygiene
	Canon UK Ltd
	Cap Gemini
	Carillion
	Cartograph
	Catch 22
	Catch 22
	Cavendish
	CB Environmental
	CB Environmental
	CFS Ltd.
	Chairman of NEAB
	Chapter Services Ltd.
	Charles Douglas
	Check Comp
	Chloride Power Protection
	Chubb
	Chubb Electronic Security
	Churchmans Marketing Comm
	City Maintenance
	City Maintenance
	City Maintenance
	City Maintenance
	Civil Service Benevolent Fund
	Claritas Diagonal Security Ltd.
	Clark + FE
	CLC
	CLC Electrical Ltd.
	Close Brothers
	CMG
	CMG
	Cofathec
	Cofathec Heatserve
	Colebrand Defence
	Combi Fire Service
	Comfort Controls
	Company/AG
	Competition Appeal Tribunal
	Comwell Management Consultants
	Comwell Management Consultants
	Concept Building Services
	Concept Building Services
	Concept Building Services
	Consultant
	Corda
	Corda Ltd.
	Cornard Consulting Ltd.
	Cornwall Management Consultants
	Cornwall Management Consultants
	Cornwell Management Cons
	Cornwell Management Cons
	Coverite L
	Coverite L
	Cox & King
	CPCR
	CPCR
	CPCR Ltd
	Cradle Access Services
	Crystal Blinds
	Crystal Blinds
	CSBF
	CSC Computer Sciences
	CSI
	CSI
	CSSC
	Cubic Defence Applications Grp
	Cuerden Consulting Ltd.
	Cunning Running Software
	Curtis-CA
	D & R Scaffolding
	D & R Scaffolding
	D J Goode
	D SAC Independent
	D UK
	D&C Lifts
	Daletech
	Daletech
	DBS Ltd
	DDA
	Defence and Naval Attache
	Defence Naval Attache
	Defence Strategy and Solutions
	DEGW
	DEGW Plc
	Deloitte &
	Deloitte C
	Delrac
	Deltaweb International
	Dennis Boyse Ltd.
	Detica
	DG WGC
	DGFM
	DHE/Steria
	Diagonal
	Diagonal Security Ltd.
	Dipcog
	DJ Talbot
	DMA
	Dome Building Services
	Dome BSPM
	Doorman Services
	Down Training and Development
	Down Training and Development
	DPBAC Consultant
	DPMT
	DS&S
	DSTL
	D-T-D
	Ductclean
	SAC
	EADS Defence andSecurity Services
	EAS
	Eastgate
	EAW Services Ltd.
	Echelon Consulting Ltd.
	ECS Philip
	ECS Philli
	ECS Phillips
	Eden Browne Ltd.
	EDS
	EH Industries Ltd.
	EHGE Ltd.
	EHGE Ltd.
	Electronic
	Eliesha Training Ltd.
	Elmwest Electrical Company
	Elyouk Industrial
	Emcor Facilities Services
	EMS
	EMS Group
	EMS Group
	Ernst & Young LLP
	Engineering Management Services
	Engineering Management Services
	English Heritage
	Enviroguard
	Environ
	Equion Ltd.
	ESS
	Eurest
	Euro Installation SVCS
	Euro Installation SVCS
	Euro Property
	Euro Property SVCS
	European Asbestos SVCS
	European Asbestos SVCS
	European Asbestos SVCS
	Eurostaff
	EV Bullen and Son
	Everson Hewitt
	Everton Hewitt Ltd.
	Excalabur
	Exchange Officer
	External Member
	Eylo UK Ltd.
	F.S.I.
	Facilities Partnership Team
	Fields Associates
	Forces Pension Society
	Four Square
	Freelance ER Taylor
	Freshfield
	Fujitsu
	Fullbrite
	Future Sys
	GAD
	Gail Smith
	GD (UK) Ltd.
	General Dynamics Ltd.
	Gent Ltd.
	Gents
	Global Associates
	Global Solutions UK Ltd.
	Goldman Sach
	Goodfellow Associates
	Gratte Manly
	Gregory Harland
	Grosvenor
	Group4
	GSL Global
	GSL UK Ltd.
	Gunnebo Security
	Guy's Kings and St. Thomas' School of Medicine
	H & B Scaffolding
	Hallmark Kitchins
	Halycon EW
	Harrow Green
	Hartley &
	Hatmet
	Havana Consultancy Ltd.
	Hays Accountancy
	HCL Safety
	Health Pro
	Hedra
	Hewlett Packard Ltd.
	HHB Services
	Hi-Q Systems Ltd.
	Hok International
	Holden+Brooke
	House Protection Agency
	HP Services
	Hurst International
	HVR Consulting Services
	Hyder Cons
	Hyssen Krupp
	IBM UK Ltd
	ICAM Solutions
	IEH
	Impact Plus
	Impact Plus
	Imperial College
	Industrial Pipe Freezing SVCS
	Information Security Systems
	Information Security Systems
	Inframan
	Institute of Business Ethics
	Insys Ltd.
	Interserve
	Intruder Alert
	Investigative Data Mining Ltd.
	IPS
	IPS Group
	ISS
	ISTA
	J&S Marine
	J.A. Brook
	JAB Defence Consulting Ltd.
	Jackson Lift Group
	Jacobs-Babtie
	James Harrington
	Janes' Fighting Ships
	JB Carton and Company
	Jola Ref and Air Conditioning
	Josephine Sammons
	JSB Training and Development
	JUEP
	K&M McLoughlin Decorating Ltd.
	Kardex Systems
	Kent Commercials
	KG Ceiling
	Kidde Fire
	Kinderquest
	Kings College London
	Knight Frank
	Kone Lifts
	KPMG Corporate Finance
	LA International
	L-3 Com
	Laing
	Lambeth College
	Leonard and Roberts
	Lexmark Internationals
	Liric
	Liric Association
	Lissajous Nucleonics Ltd.
	LJB Recruitment Search
	LM Stasys Ltd.
	Lockheed Martin
	Logica CMG
	Loughton Contract Carpet
	MacLellans
	MacLennan
	Maey Bus Services
	Mallinson
	Mallinson
	Manpower PLC
	Mar-Com International Ltd.
	Marcom Systems Ltd.
	Marconi Mobile Ltd.
	Mass Consultants Ltd.
	Matra Bae
	Matt Ltd.
	MBDA
	MBDA UK Ltd.
	MBOA UK
	McGinley
	McKinsey and Company
	McQuay Services Ltd.
	Met Office
	MHL Consultancy Ltd.
	Michelmore
	Michelmore
	Mick Rawso
	Micotec-Al
	Microtec Air Ltd.
	Microtec-Air Ltd.
	MJC Transport Ltd.
	Modis International
	Modus
	Modus Services
	Morden Associates
	MRC IEH
	MSD International
	MSD International
	Mulalley and Company Ltd.
	Mulalley and Company Ltd.
	Myco Installations Ltd.
	N&W Global
	NAO
	National Audit Office
	NCIS
	NHS
	NISCC
	Niteworks
	Non-Executive Director
	Northrop Grumman IT
	Novar Gent Ltd.
	OAC
	Octavia
	ODC UK
	ODP
	Office of PMO
	OGC
	OGC
	OGC Buying
	OPI Tel
	Orostream
	Orpington
	Ove Arup and Partners Ltd.
	Oxford Development Partnership
	PA Consulants
	P M Sciences Ltd.
	Parity
	Parker Bridge
	Parker Bridge Ltd.
	Parkway Group Ltd.
	Parsons Brothers
	Partnership
	PAYE Stonework Restorations
	Payestone
	PCRU
	PCS
	Pearson Engineering Ltd.
	Pemberton Group Plc
	Pep-UK
	Peter Wyat
	Phase Technology Ltd.
	Phase Technology Ltd.
	Phoenix Electrical Company Ltd.
	PHS Greenleaf Ltd.
	PHS Greenleaf Ltd.
	PHS Ltd.
	Pickfords
	Pinacle Ltd.
	Pink Roccade UK Ltd.
	PJ Joyce
	PMO
	PMO
	Pneumatic Engineering Ltd.
	Polaris Finance Ltd.
	Pragmatix Ltd.
	Premier Projects Ltd.
	Premier Risk Management Ltd.
	President
	Price Heating Ltd.
	Pricewater
	Professional Ltd.
	Project Management Ltd.
	Prospect
	Public Recruitment Ltd.
	PUK
	PWC
	Qinetiq
	Quality South West Ltd.
	Radio Tech
	Rand Europe UK
	Raytheon Systems Ltd.
	Raytheon Systems Ltd.
	Regal
	Relocam
	Relocom Ltd.
	Remsdaq
	Remsdaq Ltd.
	Remsdaq Ltd.
	RGS
	Right Consultants Ltd.
	Right Coutts Consulting
	Right Management Consulting
	Riverbank
	RJA Associates Ltd.
	RJD Technology Ltd.
	Robert Half International
	Robert Laing
	Robore Cuts
	Roger Preston and Partners
	Rolls-Royce Plc
	Rope Access
	Royal and Sun Alliance
	Royal Bank
	RSL
	Ruddy Joinery Ltd.
	RWAF
	S E A
	S.E.C.
	SaBRE
	Safety Planning
	SAIC
	Salamander
	Sales and Business Development
	Salvo Software Solutions
	SBL
	Scadia Consulting Ltd.
	SCOM
	SCS
	SCS
	SCS Consultants Ltd.
	Selecta
	Selex Ltd.
	Selex S&AS Ltd.
	Self Employed
	Senior Hargreaves
	Serco Consultancy
	Serco Consultancy
	Serco Ltd.
	SGC
	SGC Ltd.
	Siemens Building Technologies
	Siemens Building Technologies
	Siemens Communications
	Siesman
	Simmons and Simmons
	SISYS
	SITA
	SITA
	SJN Ltd
	Skanska
	SKM Productions
	SL Group
	Smiths Aerospace
	Smiths Detection
	SMS Management and Technology
	Society of British Aerospace
	Software Box Ltd.
	Spa Flow
	Spa Flow
	Special Adviser
	SRW
	Stanton Marris Ltd.
	Stasys
	Steria
	Steria Ltd.
	Stevenson
	Stonegrove
	Stratum Management Ltd.
	Stulz
	Stulz
	Sun Microsoft
	SVGC Ltd.
	Swift Horseman
	SWR
	Sykes and Sons Ltd.
	Symantec-Lyric Ltd
	Symbia Ltd.
	SYSIS
	System Consulting
	Systems Consultancy Services Ltd.
	Systems Consultants Services Ltd.
	T.P.S.
	Taylor Consultancy
	Technology
	Telco Electronics Ltd.
	TFPL Ltd.
	Thales L&J
	Thales Naval UK
	Thales Optronics
	Thales Underwater Systems
	The Carlyle Group
	The Projects Team
	The Salamander Organisation
	The Salamander Organisation
	Thyssen Krupp
	Thyssen Krupp
	TNT
	TPS Consulting
	TQMI Ltd
	Trafalgar
	Transaction Services
	Trend Network Services
	Trend Network Services
	Trusted Experts
	Turner &
	TYGWU
	Ultra Electronics
	University
	Unusual Suspects
	Vector FTS Ltd.
	Vectra Group
	Vectra Jones
	Vectra J Jones
	Vega Group
	VMC
	VMC Ltd.
	Vospa Thornycroft Shipbuilder
	WEAC
	Wessex Products
	Westland Helicopters
	Wheelers
	Wilston Electrical Services
	WSP
	WSP South Ltd.
	Xerox

Royal Highland Fusiliers

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many self-harm incidents have been recorded among members of the Royal Highland Fusiliers (a) at Fort George Barracks, Inverness and (b) on overseas duty in Cyprus in the past two years.

Don Touhig: The Ministry of Defence does not have centrally-held data of self-harm within the Services.
	Medical records are confidential and not all individuals seek medical assistance. Thus not all cases of self-harm are reported, although those that are reported to the chain of command are investigated.
	No incidents of self-harm were investigated among members of the Royal Highland Fusiliers at Fort George: three incidents have been investigated in Cyprus during the period 31 October 2003 to 31 October 2005.

Shipbuilding

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of fabrication work on the vessels (a) Largs Bay and (b) Lyme Bay has been carried out overseas.

Adam Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to my noble Friend (Lord Bach) the then Defence Procurement Minister's letter of 26 July 2002 (reference D/MIN (DP)WB/1/1). Ship fabrication work undertaken overseas constitutes less than 0.5 per cent. of the overall contract value. Since my noble Friend's letter no other fabrication work has been placed overseas.

Type-23 Frigates

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for a successor to the Type-23 frigates.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 30 November 2005
	The future surface combatant project is looking at how the capability currently provided by the Type 22 and Type23 frigates will be delivered after the end of their service lives. This project is still in its concept phase and no decisions have been taken.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Civil Servants

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many employees have been dismissed by each of the Northern Ireland Departments in each of the past five years.

David Hanson: In the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith), I have been asked to reply.
	The following table reflects the number of dismissalson grounds of inefficiency (capability and/or attendance) and discipline (conduct) from Northern Ireland Departments, including their agencies. Agencies have been included to give a more representative picture of the number of dismissals.
	
		
			  DE DCAL DARD DETI DFP OFM DFM DSD DEL DHSSPS DRD DOE 
		
		
			 2001 1 — 15 2 1 0 11 1 2 9 — 
			 2002 2 1 15 2 2 0 35 3 — 5 — 
			 2003 1 — 12 2 1 2 26 8 6 7 6 
			 2004 2 1 15 4 0 0 46 4 4 17 5 
			 2005 2 1 13 2 6 0 41 3 3 12 3 
			 Total 8 3 70 12 10 2 159 19 15 50 14 
		
	
	Additionally, the Northern Ireland Office dismissed two employees in 2004.

Departmental Estate

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for NorthernIreland which buildings and sites used by his Department and related agencies (a) have ceased to be used in the last year and (b) will be closed under current plans for relocation.

Peter Hain: The property portfolio of the Northern Ireland Office and its agencies has not reduced in the last year. The Youth Justice Agency's Juvenile Justice Centre in Rathgael is planned for closure in the 2006–07 fiscal year, and will be relocated to a different area of the current site. The FSNI currently occupies part of a PSNI site and has long-term plans to relocate from its current location. The PSNI would continue to use the site and neither the site or the buildings would be closed due to this future relocation.
	NIO staff in two rented buildings will be transferred to a building leased from DFP within the Stormont Estate.

Departmental Staff

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new staff started employment in the (a) Office of the First and Deputy First Minister, (b) Department for Social Development, (c) Department of Education, (d) Department of the Environment, (e) Department for Agriculture and Rural Development and (f) Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety during 2004; and how many of these were (i) Protestant and (ii) Roman Catholic.

David Hanson: In the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith), I have been asked to reply.
	The following table provides details of appointments for the year 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005 and includesindustrial and non-industrial, permanent and temporary.
	
		
			 Department including Agencies New staff (Catholic) New staff (Protestant) Non determined 
		
		
			 OFMDFM 4 5 0 
			 DSD 659 418 14 
			 DE 34 59 2 
			 DOE 228 179 29 
			 DARD 266 248 31 
			 DHSSPS 55 76 1

Departmental Staff

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff in his Department are registered as being disabled, broken down by grade; and what the equivalent figures were for each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Shaun Woodward: The following table details the number of staff in the Northern Ireland Office, broken down by grade, who have advised the Department that they have a disability.
	
		Number
		
			  April 
			 Grade 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 SCS 1 1 1 2 2 
			 Grade A 6 6 7 7 6 
			 Grade B1 4 8 12 12 12 
			 Grade B2 7 7 6 8 10 
			 Grade C 8 10 13 16 16 
			 Grade D1 11 11 15 17 20 
			 Grade D2 4 7 10 11 13 
			 Total 41 50 64 73 79

Enumeration Districts

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the enumeration districts which were in the top five per cent. measured by (a) reduction in population and (b) change of population in the last (i) 10, (ii) 20 and (iii) 30 years for which information is available.

David Hanson: In the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith), I have been asked to reply.
	The boundaries of enumeration districts, the area within which each census enumerator delivers census forms, are specific to each census reflecting changes in ward boundaries over time. It is not possible to track population changes at enumeration district level directly from available census outputs.

Unsolved Murders

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Police Service of Northern Ireland about the potential impact the Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill will have on continued investigations into unsolved murder cases in Northern Ireland.

Peter Hain: NIO Officials have been in discussion with the PSNI on the scheme provided for by the Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill, including its interaction with the operation of the PSNI Historic Enquiries Team (MET). The HET have also been briefed on the scheme. The scheme that the Bill provides for has been designed to take the HET Review into account.

Valuation and Lands Agency

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the estimated cost to the Valuation and Lands Agency is of conducting the domestic rates revaluation in Northern Ireland.

David Hanson: In the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith), I have been asked to reply.
	The Valuation and Lands Agency's running costs are made up of salary costs, general administrative expenditure, capital costs and charges levied on a notional basis by other Government Departments and agencies for services provided. On this basis the cost to the Valuation and Lands Agency of carrying out the revaluation is estimated at £11 million.
	This estimate does not include any costs associated with the handling of contacts or challenges in the post-publication period.

Valuation and Lands Agency

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what guidance the Valuation and Lands Agency has issued to its staff on the personal safety of inspectors conducting a valuation of a property in Northern Ireland.

David Hanson: In the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith), I have been asked to reply.
	The Valuation and Lands Agency provides information and training relating to the personal safety to all staff who may need to carry out property inspections.
	Regular risk assessments are carried out in respect of staff working in the field. These assessments are carried out by trained risk assessors and the outcomes and recommendations are incorporated into guidance and policy.
	In May 2005 the agency issued an updated (draft) Health and Safety in the Field Policy document to staff, incorporating best practice guidance from a number of sources, including the Suzie Lamplugh Trust. This policy was formally adopted in October 2005, following final consultations with trade union side.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Senior Board Members

David Amess: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what estimate she has made of the number of women in senior board positions in businesses in (a) Southend, (b) Essex, (c) Hertfordshire, (d) Greater London and (e) England and Wales in each of the last 10years.

Meg Munn: Over 2 million companies are registered on the Companies House register for England and Wales. A full response to this question would require manual scrutiny of business documents for all these companies and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The Female FTSE 100 Index provides a diversity measurement for women being recruited to senior board positions in the UK. Figures for 2005 were published last week and revealed an increase in the number of women on the boards of FTSE 100 companies. 78 companies have women on their boards, which reflects an increase of 13 per cent. since 2004. Women now make up 10.5 per cent. of board members, compared to 5.8 per cent. in 2000.

HEALTH

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Healthwhat assessment she has made of whether the exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 apply to files held by her Department relating to (a) the Abortion (Amendment) Bill, 1979–80 Session, (b) the Abortion (Amendment) Bill 1987–88 Session and (c) the Unborn Children (Protection) Bills in sessions (i)1984–85, (ii) 1985–86 and (iii) 1987–88; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: No assessment has been made on whether any exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 would apply to these files.

Advisory Committee on Topic Selection

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) remit and (b) membership of the Advisory Committee on Topic Selection is; and how often the Committee meets.

Jane Kennedy: The terms of reference of the Advisory Committee for Topic Selection are:
	On the basis of the criteria agreed by Ministers, assess the requirement for guidance in respect of clinical issues identified by the National Horizon Scanning Centre, by the National Co-ordinating Centre Health Technology Assessment, by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and other sources of internal and external advice.
	To advise Ministers whether referral to NICE is the most appropriate means of meeting those requirements.
	Where referral to the NICE is recommended, to advise further whether:
	(a) guidance should take the form of a technology appraisal, a clinical guideline, or some other combination or form of guidance;
	(b) (in the case of technology appraisals of new technologies) whether guidance should issue at around the expected time of launch, or whether the appraisal should be deferred for a period.
	The Advisory Committee for Topic Selection is chaired by a senior Department official and is made up of representatives of
	the professions—medical, nursing, primary care and allied healthcare;
	patient groups—the Consumers Association, Royal National Institute for Deaf People, The Pain Society and Diabetes UK;
	the national health service—a mental health trust, an acute trust, a strategic health authority and a primary care trust;
	industry—the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries and the Association of British Healthcare Industries;
	the Director of the Health Technology Assessment Programme and the Chairman of the Technology Assessment Services Collaboration; and
	representatives of key policy areas within the Department.

Advisory Committee on Topic Selection

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the length of time taken was to select each drug that has been referred for each of the stages of her Department's topic selection process for drugs and treatments referred to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.

Jane Kennedy: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) are currently reviewing the current arrangements for selecting topics for NICE'S work programme. We expect to be able to say more about this later in the year.
	The typical timescale for referral of appraisal topics to NICE for consultation on their remit and scope is in the region of 9–12 months from consideration by the Advisory Committee on Topic Selection.

Alzheimer's Disease

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what her policy is on the availability of drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease;
	(2)  what representations she has received from (a) patients and (b) carers on the availability of drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 21 November 2005
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for North-West Leicestershire (David Taylor) on 28 November 2005, Official Report, column 244W.

Avian Influenza

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health why the UK is not using the generic drug available for avian influenza; and what recent discussions she has had within the World Trade Organisation on the availability of that drug.

Caroline Flint: There has been some confusion between seasonal flu, avian flu and pandemic flu. Avian influenza is a disease which mainly affects birds. Seasonal flu refers to the virus that circulates in the human population and causes widespread illness each winter. Pandemic flu will only occur after an avian virus has mutated into a strain to which large numbers of the population have not been exposed and which can spread easily between humans.
	We have purchased 14.6 million courses of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) to treat the 25 per cent. of thepopulation that may fall ill during a pandemic. Deliveries will be complete by September 2006 and we have produced guidance to inform local national health service planning for the distribution and storage of these medicines.
	Roche, the company that has manufacturing license for Tamiflu, recently announced that it is exploring sub-licensing other manufacturers to produce Tamiflu.

Blindness

Richard Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards delivering the objectives set out in the Vision 2020 programme for eliminating avoidable blindness.

Rosie Winterton: We are committed to the principles of Vision 2020 for the elimination of avoidable blindness.
	We allocated £73 million to drive down the maximum waiting time for cataract operations to three months. This was achieved in January 2005, four years ahead of the NHS Plan target.
	Primary care trusts (PCTs) are expected to deliver the national commitment that by 2006, a minimum of 80 per cent. of people with diabetes will be offered screening for the early detection, and treatment if needed, of diabetic retinopathy as part of a systematic programme that meets national standards, rising to 100 per cent. coverage of those at risk by end of 2007. This is reflected in the delivery strategy for the diabetes national service framework.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence issued its guidance on photodynamic therapyon 24 September 2003. All PCTs are funding photodynamic therapy treatment for patients with both the wholly classic and predominantly classic forms of age-related macular degeneration.
	The Department established the eye care services steering group in December 2002 comprising representatives of key stakeholders across the profession, national health service and voluntary sector, including Vision 2020 UK, to deliver proposals for eye care services in England which were consistent with and which supported the Vision 2020 programme.
	The group has developed evidence-based pathways for four key conditions: cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and low vision services.
	The report of the eye care services steering group, along with the four pathways, were issued to the NHS as commissioning guidance in May 2004. The Department has allocated £4 million to eight pilot sites to test out the pathways in glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and low vision services.

Blindness

Richard Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Department is taking to facilitate the use by opticians of cameras which photograph the back of the eye; and if she will make a statement about diabetes retinopathy screening.

Rosie Winterton: Primary care trusts are responsible for implementing diabetic retinopathy screening to national standards as set out in Improvement, Expansion and Reform: the next three years", the planning and performance framework for 2003 to 2006 and diabetes national service framework delivery strategy. It is for local health services to decide how they want the programme to be delivered locally. Optometrists have played an important role on the national diabetic retinopathy screening project advisory group set up to steer the development of the programme.

Body Mass Index

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average body mass index was in (a) England, (b) each region and (c) each strategic health authority in the latest year for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: The data are not available in the exact format as requested. The information that is available is shown in the table which provides the mean body mass index (BMI) for England, each Government office region (GOR) and strategic health authority (SHA).
	
		Age standardised mean body mass index (BMI), by year (three-year moving average) and sex
		
			 Area code Name 2000–02 mean 
		
		
			  England 26.7 
			 A North East 27.0 
			 Q10 County Durham and Tees Valley 27.4 
			 Q09 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 26.8 
			 B North West 26.7 
			 Q15 Cheshire and Merseyside 26.6 
			 Q13 Cumbria and Lancashire 26.8 
			 Q14 Greater Manchester 26.8 
			 D Yorkshire and the Humber 26.7 
			 Q11 North and East Yorkshire and  Northern Lincolnshire 27.1 
			 Q23 South Yorkshire 26.4 
			 Q12 West Yorkshire 26.4 
			 E East Midlands 27.1 
			 Q25 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and  Rutland 26.9 
			 Q24 Trent 27.2 
			 F West Midlands 27.1 
			 Q27 Birmingham and the Black Country 27.3 
			 Q28 West Midlands South 26.8 
			 Q26 Shropshire and Staffordshire 27.1 
			 G East 26.8 
			 Q02 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 26.5 
			 Q03 Essex 26.8 
			 Q01 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 27.0 
			 H London 26.4 
			 Q05 North Central London 26.0 
			 Q06 North East London 26.4 
			 Q04 North West London 26.0 
			 Q07 South East London 26.2 
			 Q08 South West London 26.9 
			 J South East 26.4 
			 Q17 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 26.6 
			 Q18 Kent and Medway 26.8 
			 Q19 Surrey and Sussex 26.1 
			 Q16 Thames Valley 26.4 
			 K South West 26.4 
			 Q20 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 26.2 
			 Q22 Dorset and Somerset 26.5 
			 Q21 South West Peninsula 26.5 
		
	
	Notes:
	The data show BMI as a three-year moving average, with the latest data available being 2000–02
	Source:
	Health Survey for England: Health and Lifestyle indicators for Strategic Health Authorities 1994–2002
	Department of Health Produced by National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) Crown Copyright

Caesareans (Southampton University Hospitals Trust)

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the Caesarean rate has been in each of the last five years at Southampton University Hospitals Trust.

Caroline Flint: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Number of deliveries and percentage that were by caesarean for Princess Anne Hospital, Southampton, to 2003–04
		
			  Total deliveries Caesarean (percentage) 
		
		
			 1999–2000 4,420 19 
			 2000–01 4,244 19 
			 2001–02 4,135 22 
			 2002–03 4,490 20 
			 2003–04 4,720 22 
		
	
	Note:
	In 2001–02 to 2003–04, method of delivery was not submitted for Princess Anne hospital, Southampton. Data is therefore estimated from procedure code.
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics

Cancer

Lynda Waltho: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress her Department has made in reducing deaths from cancer since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The 2002–04 monitoring data for the Our Healthier Nation mortality targets shows that since 1995–97 cancer mortality in people under 75 in England has fallen by 13.9 per cent.

Cancer

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancer drugs have been approved by the European Medicines Evaluation Agency in each of the last five years.

Jane Kennedy: The following anti-cancer drugs were approved by the European Commission by way of Centralised Procedures administered by the European Medicines Evaluation Agency.
	Five, between October 2000 and September 2001:
	DepoCyte (cytarabine) for the treatment of lymphomatous meningitis.
	MabCampath (alemtuzumab) for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
	Panretin (alitretinoin) for the treatment of cutaneous lesions in AIDS-related Kaposi's Sarcoma.
	Targretin (bexarotene) for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
	Xeloda (capecitabine) for treatment of patients following surgery for colon cancer.
	Three, between October 2001 and September 2002:
	Foscan (temoporfin) for the treatment of advanced head and neck carcinoma.
	Glivec (imatinib) for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia.
	Trisenox (arsenic trioxide) for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukaemia.
	One, between October 2002 and September 2003:
	Busilvex (busulfan) for the treatment of certain leukaemias and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
	Six, between October 2003 and September 2004:
	Velcade (bortezomib) for the treatment of progressive multiple myeloma.
	Aldara (imiquimod) for the treatment of superficial basal cell carcinomas.
	Alimta (pemetrexed) for the treatment of pleural mesothelioma and non-small cell lung cancer.
	Lysodren (mitotane) for the treatment of advanced adrenal cortical carcinoma.
	Litak (cladribine) for the treatment of hairy cell leukaemia.
	Erbitux (cetuximab) for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer.
	Two, between October 2004 and September 2005:
	Avastin (bevacizumab) for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer.
	Tarceva (Erlotinib) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non small cell lung cancer after failure of at least one prior chemotherapy regimen.
	In addition, during this period authorisations have been granted through the European Centralised Procedure for a number of other drugs used to treat cancer symptoms, serious side effects of other anti-cancer drugs and for cancer diagnosis and imaging.

Children's Diet

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the average daily calorie intake was of children under 16 years in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the average daily calorie intake was for children (a) five years ago, (b) 10 years ago, (c) 20 years ago and (d) 30 years ago.

Caroline Flint: The most recent information available on the average daily energy (calorie) intake of children is shown in the following table and is taken from the 1992–93 national diet and nutrition survey of children aged 1½ to 4½ years and the 1997 national diet and nutrition survey of young people aged four to 18 years which is shown in the table. There is no earlier or more recent comparable data available.
	
		Average daily energy intake (kcal) by sex and age
		
			  Energy Intake (kcal/day) 
			 Age (years) Male Female 
		
		
			 1½–4½ 1,172 1,108 
			 4–6 1,520 1,397 
			 7–10 1,777 1,598 
			 11–14 1,968 1,672 
			 15–18 2,285 1,622 
		
	
	Notes:
	1.Data from Gregory J, Collins DL, Davies PSW, Hughes JM & Clarke PC. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: Children aged 1½ to 4½ years. Volume 1: Report of the diet and nutrition survey". HMSO (London: 1995).
	2.Data from Gregory J, Lowe S, Bates CJ, Prentice A, Jackson LV, Smithers G, Wenlock R & Farron M. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: young people aged 4 to 18 years. Volume 1: Report of the diet and nutrition survey" (2000). TSO (London: 2000).
	This lack of trend data was the major driver behind the Food Standards Agency's decision to set up a new rolling programme of national diet and nutrition surveys. The rolling programme will cover all ages from 1½ years upwards and will provide more frequent data for children and other age groups, so strengthening the ability to track changes over time. The first results from the rolling programme should be available from 2008–09.

Consultants/Advisers

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much has been spent by the Shropshire and Staffordshire strategic health authority on management consultants in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what projects in the Shropshire and Staffordshire strategic health authority (a) have required and (b) will require the assistance of external management consultants in 2005.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not held centrally.

Consultants/Advisers

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list departmental projects conducted by consultants in each year since 2000; what the cost was in each case; and what the total cost of employing consultants was in each year.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Consultants/Advisers

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) consultants and (b) special advisers were employed by her Department in each year since 1997; what the cost of each was in each year; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: There is no centrally held data on the number of consultants within the Department.
	Obtaining the information requested would incur disproportionate costs to the Department. With regards to part (b) I refer to the hon. Member to the response provided by the Parliamentary Secretary (Jim Murphy) at the Cabinet Office sent on 16 November.
	Information on the numbers of special advisers prior to 2003 was provided at regular intervals and this information will be available in the Library.

Dentistry

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she intends to publish the likely values for units of dental activity under the new general dental services contract.

Rosie Winterton: Under the national health service dental reforms being introduced from April 2006, units of dental activity (UDA) refer to courses of treatment that are weighted to reflect their relative complexity. The proposed weightings for different courses of treatments, that is the number of UDA to which they correspond, were set out in the draft general dental services (GDS) and personal dental services (PDS) contract regulations, which were published in August 2005. The final version of these proposed regulations will be laid before Parliament shortly.
	UDA do not have a fixed price attached to them. It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) and dentists to agree annual contract values and to agree the number of UDA that the dentist is expected to carry out over the course of the year in return for this contract value. The cost of a UDA will therefore be locally determined.
	From the end of November, GDS dentists began to receive information showing their level of activity, expressed in terms of UDA, during the reference period, 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2005, and their NHS earnings during the same period. PCTs and dentists will use this as the basis for agreeing new annual contract values and the number of UDA that the dentist is expected to carry out over the course of the year in return for this annual contract value. GDS dentists will be guaranteed an annual contract value based on their reference period earnings, uplifted to reflect 2006–07 pay and prices, provided the dentists agree with their PCT an annual level of UDA equivalent to 95 per cent. of their activity during the reference period.
	PDS dentists are due to receive similar information from PCTs at the end of November. PDS dentists will be guaranteed an annual contract value worth at least that of their current PDS agreement, uplifted to 2006–07 pay and prices, in return for carrying out annually an appropriate level of UDA agreed with their PCT.

Dentistry

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new personal dental service contracts were agreed for the Rochdale primary care trust in financial year 2005–06.

Rosie Winterton: Since the beginning of the 2005–06 financial year the Secretary of State has approved one personal dental service contract application in the Rochdale primary care trust area. This is for the Castlemere community centre, Tweedale street.

Dentistry

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists have been recruited in the Rochdale primary care trust area in the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Number of dentists who have joined the general dental services (GDS) or personal dental services (PDS) in Rochdale primary care trust, as at 30 September each year 2001–05
		
			  Complete new entrant(4) 
		
		
			 2005 5 
			 2004 0 
			 2003 1 
			 2002 3 
			 2001 9 
		
	
	(4)Complete new entrant means the dentist had an open GDS or PDS contract in September of the specified year but no GDS or PDS contract in September of the previous year.
	Source:
	Dental Practice Board.

Departmental Staff

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to relocate staff in her Department and related agencies into London and the South East.

Jane Kennedy: Neither the Department nor either of its two executive agencies, NHS Purchasing and Supplies Agency and Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, have any plans to relocate any groups of staff into London and the South East.

Diet

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the cost to the NHS in the last five years of complications relating to a poor diet, with particular reference to (a) food poisoning, (b) heart disease, (c) stroke, (d) diabetes, (e) cancer and (f) tooth decay.

Caroline Flint: This information is not collected centrally in the form requested.

Doctors and Nurses

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses are working in the NHS in (i) Oxfordshire and (ii) Banbury constituency; and what the equivalent figures were in 1997.

Caroline Flint: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		General medical practitioners(5), GP practice nurses, hospital, public health medicine and community health services (HCHS): medical and dental staff(6) and nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff within Thames Valley by specified organisation -- Numbers (headcount)
		
			  1997(7) 
			   Of which:  Of which: 
			 England(8) All doctors HCHS doctors(5) General medical practitioners All nurses Nursing, midwifery and health GP practice nurses 
		
		
			 Thames Valley 3,525 2,293 1,232 12,315 11,539 776 
			 of which   
			 Cherwell Vale PCT n/a 0 n/a n/a 0 n/a 
			 North East Oxfordshire n/a o n/a n/a 0 n/a 
			 Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS n/a 56 n/a n/a 232 n/a 
			 Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust n/a 564 n/a n/a 1,666 n/a 
			 Thames Valley SHA n/a 0 n/a n/a 0 n/a 
		
	
	
		Numbers (headcount)
		
			  2004 
			   Of which:  Of which: 
			 England(8) All doctors HCHS doctors(5) General medical practitioners All nurses Nursing, midwifery and health GP practice nurses 
		
		
			 Thames Valley 4,729 3,283 1,446 15,238 14,301 937 
			 Of which:   
			 Cherwell Vale PCT 84 2 82 149 121 28 
			 North East Oxfordshire 84 33 51 116 83 33 
			 Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS 82 82 0 319 319 0 
			 Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust 1,104 1,104 0 3,736 3,736 0 
			 Thames Valley SHA 21 21 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	n/a=not available.
	(5)General medical practitioners (excluding retainers) includes contracted GPs, GMS others and PMS others. Prior to September 2004 this group included GMS unrestricted principals, PMS contracted GPs, PMS salaried GPs, restricted principals, assistants, salaried doctors (Para 52 SFA), PMS other, flexible career scheme GPs and GP returners.
	(6)Excludes medical hospital practitioners and medical clinical assistants, most of whom are GPs working part-time in hospitals.
	(7)There is no PCT data available in 1997 as PCTs came into existence in 2001.
	(8) Data as at 30 September 2004, In 1997, data for HCHS medical and dental staff and nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff as at 30 September, data for GP and practice nurse data as at 1 October.
	Source:
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre General and Personal Medical Services Statistics
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre medical and dental workforce census
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre non-medical workforce census

Epilepsy

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the work force development requirements to meet (a) the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence epilepsy standards and (b) the National Service Framework for long-term medical conditions in respect of epilepsy.

Jane Kennedy: The Long Term Conditions Care Group Workforce Team, hosted by Skills for Health, has identified a range of work force issues and is working with the Department and other stakeholders to support local planning and develop solutions for local implementation.

Food Additives

Jeremy Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the impact of food additives being listed by name instead of by E numbers on food products, with particular reference to nursery and child care facilities.

Caroline Flint: Policy responsibility for food labelling lies with the Food Standards Agency. The law requires that additives be identified by a category name, which describes the function performed by the additive in the food, followed by either the specific name of the additive and/or its E number. The Government have not commissioned any research into the usage of specific names instead of E numbers or the impact of such labelling.

Formula Milk

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what controls her Department imposes on the contents of formula milk products sold in England.

Caroline Flint: The Food Standards Agency has the policy lead on the Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula Regulations (1995) which control the content of infant formula products in the United Kingdom. The regulations, which implement European Commission directive 91/321/EEC, lay down strict rules regarding the composition of infant formula. The directive and the implementing national measure also contain rules on the labelling, advertising and promotion of infant formula to ensure that this information does not negatively impact on the promotion of breastfeeding. The regulations are enforced in England by local authorities.

GM Food

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if her Department will obtain an analysis of the recent research by the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences conducted by Irina Ermakova on GM-fed rats.

Caroline Flint: A short report of the research was published on the website of a Russian environmental organisation in October 2005. This report describes a small scale study on rats fed an unspecified variety of genetically modified soya flour. The Food Standards Agency is seeking advice from the Advisory Committee on Novel Food and Processes on what conclusions may be drawn from this research.

Hemel Hempstead Hospital

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many letters she has received from members of the public in Hemel Hempstead constituency about the closure of the (a) acute accident and emergency unit, (b) wards, (c) stroke unit and (d) cardiac unit at Hemel Hempstead hospital; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how many letters she has received from members of the public in Hemel Hempstead constituency inviting her to visit the Hemel Hempstead hospital; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  how many letters she has received from members of the public in Hemel Hempstead constituency about (a) the proposed closure of the children's ward and (b) the closure of the intensive care unit at Hemel Hempstead hospital; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer (30259) 21 November 2005
	The information is not collected in the format requested. However, the number of letters received from members of the public about Hemel Hempstead hospital in the period 1 June to 16 November 2005 is approximately around 800. This figure does not include campaign slips of which there were approximately 3,500.

Hemicrania Continua

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to improve the standard of care offered to those suffering from hemicrania continua; what treatments are available for the condition; and what steps she is taking to ensure the most clinically appropriate treatment for the condition is offered to patients throughout England.

Rosie Winterton: The national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions, published in March 2005, specifically focuses on improving the health and social care for people with neurological conditions, including those suffering from hemicrania continua. People with these conditions will get faster diagnosis, more rapid treatment and a comprehensive package of care under the NSF.
	There are a range of drugs, and clinical interventions, which can be used to alleviate the symptoms of hemicrania continua. It is for health professionals to decide, on an individual basis, the most appropriate treatment.

HIV

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the overall cost to (a) the NHS and (b) other public funds of an untreated case of HIV infection.

Caroline Flint: We have made no estimate of the overall cost to the public purse of leaving a case of HIV infection untreated.
	Our estimate of the cost to the national health service of drug treatment for an individual with HIV ranges from approximately £12,000 to £18,000–19,000 per year depending on disease stage. The average cost is £14,000, per person per year. The treatment is lifelong.

Hospitals (Catering)

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which outside companies provide catering services to NHS hospitals.

Jane Kennedy: The table shows the external catering companies that are identified in the estates related information collection as providers of whole or part catering services to national health service hospitals.
	Catering providers 2003–05
	Angilia Crown
	Anglia Support Partnership
	Appetitto
	Aramark
	ASP
	Avenance
	Berrywood Catering
	Birmingham City Council
	Brake Brothers Frozen Foods
	Carillion
	Catalyst
	Choices
	Classic Catering
	Compass Group
	Compass Medirest
	Consort Healthcare
	Criterion
	Dalkia
	Dash
	Ecovert FM
	Eric Wright FM
	Eurest
	Fairway Catering
	G. Morgan and Sons
	Global Solutions Limited
	Granada
	Initial Services
	Interserve
	ISS Mediclean
	Just Deli
	Meal Courier Service
	Medirest
	NHS Logistics
	Norfolk County Services
	OCS Ltd.
	Pabullum
	Redcliffe Contract Catering Limited
	Robertsons
	Ryhurst Facilities
	Selecta
	Serco
	Snackattack
	Sodhexo
	Sovereign Hospital Services
	Suffolk Support Services
	SUHT
	Tillery Valley Foods
	TVF and CDDAST
	UHL/Bateman/RCO
	Worthing and Southlands
	YHT—Catering

Joint Planning Group

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) remit and (b) membership of the Joint Planning Group is; and how often the group meets.

Jane Kennedy: The terms of reference of the Joint Planning Group are to:
	Consider topics recommended by the Advisory Committee for Topic Selection and advise Ministers on
	(a) the strategic and policy significance of topics from a Health Departments' and national health service perspective; and
	(b) the resource and implementation consequences for the NHS of the proposed topics;
	Assess the proposed work programme in relation to National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's overall capacity; and
	Advise Ministers of the priority to be given to individual topics proposed within the work programme.
	Guide the process of topic selection by advising the Advisory Committee for Topic Selection and any ad hoc specialty mapping groups of the intended broad balance of the future work programme; and give any additional guidance that may be required.
	The group is chaired jointly by a Deputy Chief Medical Officer from the Department and the Chairman of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Membership comprises
	the Chief and Deputy Chief Executive of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence;
	senior officials from the Department's Medicines Pharmacy and Industry, Finance, Delivery and Quality Groups;
	the Departments national clinical directors
	one primary care trust representative and
	one representative from a strategic health authority.

Mental Health

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to be in a position to publish the Mental Health Bill.

Rosie Winterton: The Mental Health Bill will be introduced when the legislative timetable permits.

MRSA

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of MRSA have been identified in hospitals within Coventry South in each year since March 2003.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 28 November 2005
	The information requested is not available centrally on an individual hospital basis. The information in the following table shows the number of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) reports and the rate per 1,000 bed days for the university hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS trust for the periods shown.
	
		University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS trust
		
			  Number of MRSA bacteraemia reports MRSA rate per 1,000 bed days 
		
		
			 April 2003 to March 2004 79 0.19 
			
			 April 2004 to March 2005(9) 55 0.13 
		
	
	(9)The MRSA rate for 2004–05 per 1,000 bed days is provisional, as final 2004–05 activity data for the trust is not yet available.

National Diet and Nutrition Survey

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the results of the national diet and nutrition survey of 2000; what impact the survey results have had on her public health and nutrition policy; and what plans her Department has to evaluate the nutritional status of people aged (a) under 19 and (b) over 64 years.

Caroline Flint: The findings of the 2000–01 national diet and nutrition survey of adults aged 19 to 64 years show a mixed picture of the diet and nutritional health of this age group. On average, adults in Britain were getting sufficient nutrients from their diets. There were some positive dietary changes since the previous survey of this group in 1986–87, notably the fall in average intake of fat, which is now close to the recommended amount. However, intakes of saturated fat, non-milk extrinsic sugar and salt are still higher than the recommended levels. Young adults in particular had low consumption of fruit and vegetables and low intakes of some vitamins and minerals.
	The survey findings have informed the development of Government's priorities for action on diet and nutrition set out in Choosing A Better Diet: a food and health action plan" to reduce the consumption of fat, salt and sugar and increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables. It has also informed the development of specific targets in the Food Standards Agency's (FSA) Strategic Plan for 2005 to 2010. These include targets to reduce population intakes of salt and saturated fat.
	The FSA is setting up a new rolling programme of national diet and nutrition surveys. The survey will cover all age groups including people under 19 years and over 64 years, providing data to supersede earlier surveys of these age groups. The first results from the rolling programme should become available by 2008–09.

NICE

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State 
	(1)  for Health when the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence single technology appraisal for Velcade will commence; and when guidance will be published;
	(2)  whether the statutory timeframe for primary care trusts to implement National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance issued under the single technology appraisal will be less than three months.

Jane Kennedy: I announced on 3 November that proposed changes to enable the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to produce faster guidance on life-saving drugs would go ahead immediately. Preparatory work on the appraisal of Velcade has commenced and I understand that NICE will publish a time scale for completion of this work in due course.
	The existing direction to primary care trusts and national health service trusts concerning arrangements for the funding of technology appraisal guidance from NICE, does not differentiate between appraisals conducted using the existing appraisal process and those conducted using the new single technology appraisal processes.

NICE

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the average time taken by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence to appraise pharmaceuticals under the early referrals process has been since it was established;
	(2)  if she will issue interim guidance to primary care trusts on the prescription of bortezomib (Velcade) for use as a myeloma treatment.

Jane Kennedy: I announced on 3 November that proposed changes to enable the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to produce faster guidance on life-saving drugs would go ahead immediately. It is not possible to give an average for the length of appraisals conducted under this new process because none have yet been completed.
	In 1999, the Department issued Health Service Circular 1999/176, which asks national health service bodies to continue with local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies where guidance from NICE has not yet been issued. These arrangements should include an assessment of the available evidence.

Obesity Clinics

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 14 November 2005, Official Report, columns 970–71W on obesity clinics, if she will list the services provided at each of the clinics; and what the (a) average waiting time, (b) the number of people waiting and (c) number of finished consultant episodes were in each year since inception.

Caroline Flint: The information requested is not collected centrally, as data is only collected at trust level and not specialist clinic level.

Ophthalmic Practices

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on her plans to reduce the number of ophthalmic practices that deliver NHS eye examinations.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 24 November 2005
	There are no plans to reduce the number of ophthalmic practices delivering eye examinations funded by the national health service.

Pesticides

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress the working group within her Department has made in producing a module of toxicology for use by general practitioners in relation to the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution report, with particular reference to the impact on the health of residents and bystanders of crop spraying of pesticides.

Caroline Flint: Meetings between the Department and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) have been held and it has been agreed that a working group comprising representatives of the RCGP and senior clinical toxicologists should be set up. The terms of reference of the working group will include reporting on the need to provide improved training in toxicology as part of the RCGP training syllabus. If this is agreed and considered feasible, a draft module in toxicology will be defined. It is expected that the group will report during 2006.

Prescriptions (Pre-payment Certificates)

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pre-payment certificates for prescriptions have been issued in Lancashire in each of the last 12 months.

Jane Kennedy: pursuant to the reply, 27 October 2005, Official Report, c. 507W
	I regret my previous reply was incorrect. It should read:
	Information on the number of pre-payment certificates (PPCs) issued for Lancashire is not separately identifiable. However, the number of PPCs issued for England, by month for each of the last 12 months is as follows:
	
		
			 Month/year Number of PPCs issued for England 
		
		
			 October 2004 87,443 
			 November 2004 93,823 
			 December 2004 77,050 
			 January 2005 95,299 
			 February 2005 91,868 
			 March 2005 127,400 
			 April 2005 84,821 
			 May 2005 90,624 
			 June 2005 97,744 
			 July 2005 88,624 
			 August 2005 92,221 
			 September 2005 93,500

Prescriptions (Pre-payment Certificates)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pre-payment certificates for prescriptions have been issued in London in each of the last 12 months.

Jane Kennedy: pursuant to the reply, 17 October 2005, Official Report, c. 777W
	I regret my previous reply was incorrect. It should read:
	Information on the number of pre-payment certificates (PPCs) issued for London is not separately identifiable. However, the number of PPCs issued for England, by month for each of the last 12 months is as follows.
	
		
			 Month/year Number of PPCs issued for England 
		
		
			 October 2004 87,443 
			 November 2004 93,823 
			 December 2004 77,050 
			 January 2005 95,299 
			 February 2005 91,868 
			 March 2005 127,400 
			 April 2005 84,821 
			 May 2005 90,624 
			 June 2005 97,744 
			 July 2005 88,624 
			 August 2005 92,221 
			 September 2005 93,500

Public Service Agreements

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  why her Department has used three year averages to measure performance against 2004 public service agreement target number one;
	(2)  why her Department has used three year averages to measure performance against 2004 public service agreement target number two.

Caroline Flint: Three-year rolling average rates are generally used for monitoring purposes, in preference to single year rates, in order to produce a smoothed trend from the data and to ensure the underlying trend is captured rather than year-on-year fluctuations. The resulting trend is more statistically robust than that produced by using single year rates. This approach has been successfully used in monitoring many of the national targets from current and previous public health strategies, for example, Our Healthier Nation (1999) and Health of the Nation (1992).
	The Department's public service agreement targets, agreed as part of the 2004 spending review, are published on the Department's website and full technical details for each target, including target dates and how they are measured are included in the associated technical notes. The full website address containing the relevant details is: http://www.dh.gov.uk/AboutUs/HowDHWorks/ServiceStandardsAndCommitments/DHPublicService Agreement/fs/en.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Healthwhether the Government have set a time scale for bringing the guidelines for preventative treatment against respiratory syncytial virus up to EU recommended standards.

Caroline Flint: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recently reviewed all the available evidence on the use of palivizumab for theprevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The minutes to this meeting (22 June 2005) are available on the Department's website: www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/JCVI/minutes.htm.
	Any recommendation on immunisation made by the Department will be based on the advice of JCVI.

SANELINE

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking for the continued provision of the services provided by SANELINE.

Rosie Winterton: SANE, in common with other voluntary and community sector organisations, is eligible to apply for funding from Government funding streams aimed at the voluntary and community sector—including the Department's section 64 general scheme of grants, or to tender for specific pieces of work commissioned by the Department.
	In terms of overall provision of helpline services for people with mental health issues, NHS Direct provides a 24 hour, seven day a week service telephone helpline service and its fully-trained staff respond to about 325,000 calls per year from people with mental health issues. NHS Direct works in close partnership with the member organisations of the Mental Health Helpline Partnership (MHHP) of which SANELINE is a member, which, jointly, handles over five million telephone calls or contracts per year. MHHP member organisations jointly, respond to 99 per cent. of all calls made to mental health helplines.
	The MHHP is currently in the procurement stage of purchasing a telecommunications solutions package that will enable MHHP members to work more efficiently in terms of call-switching between MHHP members and to work towards overall 24-hour provision of MHHP helpline services and, therefore, improve the overall level of service provision to people with mental health issues.

Seasonal Adjustment Disorder

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Healthwhat NHS treatment is available for seasonal adjustment disorder.

Rosie Winterton: Although seasonal adjustment (affective) disorder is not listed in the international classification of mental and behavioural disorders (ICD-10), it is generally accepted that there are people who appear to be affected in this way. Whatever the causes, which are not fully understood, depression is a matter of concern to those delivering mental health services. People suffering from depression that varies seasonally can access the full range of mental health services available in primary and secondary care.

Thames Valley SHA

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what capital allocations she expects to be made available to the Thames Valley strategic health authority over the next three years; and for what purpose each allocation will be made.

Caroline Flint: No decisions have yet been made on national health service capital allocations for 2006–07 onwards.
	The last round of capital allocations was announced in January 2003, covering 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Bournemouth Schools

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what additional funding has been made available for schools in Bournemouth which are unable to remain within their financial budgets in 2005–06.

Jacqui Smith: Bournemouth local authority received transitional support grant (TSG) of £670,000 in 2004–05, and is due to draw down a further £335,000 in 2005–06. Distribution to schools will be in accordance with the authority's agreed transitional support plan which was approved by the Secretary of State.
	Authorities, generally, are free under the LEA budget regulations to support schools in financial difficulty through sums held centrally by the authority, or by extending licensed deficit facilities under the terms of the local financial scheme.

Child Care

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Educationand Skills what her estimate is of the number of child care places that are required but not being supplied.

Maria Eagle: At September 2005, the total number of (registered) child care places reported from Ofsted stood at 1.22 million. We do not collect national data on the demand for child care places although we have commissioned a number of sample surveys of parental needs and surveys, most recently in 2001. This survey found that a quarter of all households experienced some form of unmet demand in that year. Estimating the supply and demand at the national level is difficult because the child care market operates at a very local level, leading to significant local variation. We know for example the gap is bigger in London, South West and the East Midlands.
	The Childcare Bill currently going through parliament formalises a new duty on local authorities to secure sufficient child care to meet local needs. Within this the duty also requires LAs to carry out an assessment of the local child care market, at least every three years, to develop an overall picture of child care provision in the area. This will help them to identify gapsin provision—and to support providers, from all sectors, to achieve a child care market that meets local needs of working parents. Statutory guidance will support the provisions.

Child Care

Edward Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many child care places have been created in Normanton in each year since 1997.

Beverley Hughes: The Department is unable to provide details of child care places for Normanton because we do not collect data by parliamentary constituency. However, from April 1999 to March 2005 Wakefield local authority increased the stock of registered child care places in Wakefield by more than 2,900. The Ofsted registered stock of child care in Wakefield in March 2005 was 5,099 places.
	Nationally, from April 1999 to March 2005 local authorities have created almost 487,000 registered child care places. The Ofsted registered stock of child care nationally at March 2005 was 1,175,275.

Child Care

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what powers her Department has to pursue local authorities who fail to fulfil their duties as set out in the Childcare Bill.

Beverley Hughes: Our legislative proposals include provision for the proposed functions in the Bill, which fall upon local authorities, to be subject to the existing powers of the Secretary of State to secure proper performance. These will ensure that where the Secretary of State is satisfied that a local authority is failing to perform the duties set out in the Bill, for example through the independent evidence of a Joint Area Review, the proposals will allow the Secretary of State to intervene.

Child Care

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans her Department has to enable parents to require a local authority to fulfil its statutory duties under the Childcare Bill.

Beverley Hughes: Local authorities already have in place procedures to consider complaints relating to the services they provide. Statutory guidance issued to local authorities under the Childcare Bill will make clear that they must provide parents with a clear pathway within existing procedures for considering complaints about the availability of child care and other early years services. We will also expect local authorities to advise parents of this complaints procedure and, where parents need assistance, to help them navigate through it.
	If parents are not satisfied with the action taken by the local authority and believe that there has been maladministration, they can refer the complaint to the local government ombudsman.
	All complaints received by a local authority about its duties under the Childcare Bill will be available to Ofsted to take into account when forming judgments as part of the Joint Area Review and the Comprehensive Performance Assessment process.

Child Contact Procedures

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to improve safety checks on new partners of a parent with custody of a child in cases of disputed contact with a non-resident parent.

Maria Eagle: holding answer 29 November 2005
	We wish to ensure that safety checks are undertaken in all cases where there is a concern that a child could be at risk. Subject to parliamentary approval, the Children and Adoption Bill will strengthen the safeguards for children, by placing a statutory duty on Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) officers to undertake risk assessments whenever they are involved in private law family proceedings, where they suspect that a child is at risk of suffering harm. This will include those cases of disputed contact which are the subject of court applications, where the child resides with a parent who has a new partner and there is a concern that a child might be at risk.
	Since section 120 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 came into effect on 31 January 2005, parties in contact, and other section 8 Children Act 1989 proceedings, have the opportunity of raising concerns about harm, when an application for proceedings is first made or when the respondent files an acknowledgement of proceedings. If either party indicates there may be an issue of harm, including concerns about a new resident partner, they are then expected to provide details in a supplemental information form. These forms will be copied to CAFCASS by the courts, thus enabling its practitioners to prepare in advance of the hearing by making relevant checks and assessments. These include checks of social services and police records, which CAFCASS is entitled to ask for through its duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under section 12 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Services Act 2000.
	Subsequently, assisted by information from CAFCASS, the courts are then well placed to considerwhether it is necessary, at the outset of formal proceedings, to make findings of fact.

Child Protection Registers

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were placed on child protection registers in each year since 2002, broken down by category of registration; and how many were taken into care in each case.

Maria Eagle: Details of registrations to child protection registers broken down by category of abuse may be found in table E of the Department's Statistical First Release on Referrals, Assessments and Children and Young People on Child Protection Registers England: Year Ending 31 March 2005". Information on the number of looked after children that are placed on child protection registers can be found in table C of the same publication. This information can be downloaded from the Department's website at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000614/index.shtml. It is also placed in the House of Commons Library.

Class Sizes

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in the constituency of Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland have class sizes of more than 30 children.

Jacqui Smith: In January 2005 there were 15 primary schools and four secondary schools in the constituency of Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland with class sizes of 31 or more children (classes taught by one teacher).
	Legislation to limit the size of classes taught by one teacher to 30 or fewer pupils only applies to infant classes for 5, 6 and 7 year olds. In January 2005 there were no key stage 1 classes in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland that exceeded the statutory maximum class size of 30.

Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 17 October.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Schools and 14 to 19 Learning, replied to the hon. Member's letter of 17 October on 30 November.

Departmental Websites

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will take steps to ensure the Department's websites attain the W3C AAA standard of accessibility for people with visual and other disabilities; and if she will set a target date for this standard to be achieved by.

Maria Eagle: The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) follows government policy on publication on the web. This entails following the Guidelines for UK Government websites and compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Version 1. Neither these Guidelines, e-Accessibility communications from the European Union or advice from the RNIB have ever suggested that government websites should attain and maintain Level AAA.
	Government Guidelines currently indicate that websites should meet Level A of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines that is the Priority One Checkpoints. They also identify a significant number of the Priority Two and Priority Three Checkpoints that have been deemed to be best practice.
	The Department for Education and Skills websites currently meet Level A of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines that is the Priority One Checkpoints. The DfES is currently working towards making all of its websites attain Level AA accessibility by July 2006. In addition to this, DfES identify that a number of checkpoints from the Level AAA requirement are essential best practice and routinely use aspects such as ensuring that there is sufficient contrast between foreground and background colours (P3 Checkpoint 2.2), the provision of search facilities (P3 Checkpoint 13.7) and the use of consistent presentation across all pages (P3 Checkpoint 14.3) in all websites.

Early-years Education

Edward Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many three and four-year-olds in (a) Wakefield district and (b) Normanton constituency are receiving (i) 12.5 hours a week, (ii) 15 hours a week and (iii) 20 hours a week of free early-years education.

Beverley Hughes: Information is not collected in the form requested.
	All four-year-olds have been entitled to a free early education place since 1998 and from April 2004 this entitlement was extended to all three-year-olds. The free entitlement consists of a minimum of five two-and-a-half hour sessions per week for 33 weeks of the year for six terms before statutory school age, which is the term following their fifth birthday.
	Some local authorities may additionally offer subsidised child care places but this information is not collected centrally.
	Figures for January 2005 show that all four-year-old children receive some form of free entitlement. The figure for three-years-olds is 96 per cent. This covers all maintained, private, voluntary and independent providers and represents 535,100 three-year-olds and 568,300 four-year-olds.
	In January 2005 in Wakefield LA there were 3,200 free nursery places taken up by three-year-old children. The equivalent figure for four-year-olds was 3,600. Information for private and voluntary providers is not currently available for Normanton constituency in 2005.
	The latest figures on early education places for three and four-year-olds in England were published in Statistical First Release 43/2005 Provision for children under five years of age in England—January 2005 (final)" in September, which is available on my Department's website http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000604/index.shtml

Extended Schools Programme

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how much funding has been allocated to (a) Staffordshire local education authority and (b) local schools in Tamworth constituency to develop and roll out the extended schools programme in (i) 2005–06, (ii) 2006–07, (iii) 2007–08 and (iv) 2008–09;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the number of schools in (a) Staffordshire and (b) Tamworth constituency that will be delivering extended services in (i) 2006, (ii) 2007 and (iii) 2008; and to how many children and parents such provision will be available.

Beverley Hughes: This Government want all schools to provide access to a core offer of extended services by 2010, with half of all primary and a third of all secondary schools doing so by 2008. We want to see at least 2,500 schools providing access to the core offer by September 2006. The core offer, which should be available to all parents and pupils of the school, comprises: high quality child care; a varied menu of study support activities parenting support programmes; swift and easy referral to a wide range of specialised support services; and wider community access. It will be for individual local authorities, in discussion with all schools in their area, to take a strategic approach to developing access to the core offer through schools. This will include determining how many primary and secondary schools develop access to the core offer in each year. On 29 September 2005 my Department published its report on the baseline survey of extended services in schools which it commissioned earlier in the year. The survey showed that nationally the vast majority of schools were providing access to some form of extended activity. The survey did not provide figures at local authority level.
	On 13 June 2005 my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced funding of £790 million over 2005–08 to support the development of extended schools. £110 million of this was allocated in 2005–06 and Staffordshire received £1,223,340. Of the £680 million to be allocated across 2006–08, £250 million will go direct to schools through the School Standards Grant and the formula for calculating each school's allocation for 2006–07 will be announced in the near future. The remaining £430 million will be distributed to local authorities through the Standards Fund and the General Sure Start Grant. Of this Staffordshire will receive £2,537,634 in 2006–07 and £3,121,417 in 2007–08. Funding will be released to schools in accordance with each local authority's extended schools strategy. My Department wrote out to each local authority on 13 June 2005 detailing what their extended schools allocation, excluding the School Standards Grant, will be over the period 2005–08.
	Funding for extended schools beyond 2007–08 is subject to the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review in 2007 when the Department will be reviewing all its programme budgets.

Fostering

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in England are awaiting fostering.

Maria Eagle: There is currently no central collection of data regarding the number of children in England who are awaiting fostering.
	However, work to identify and resolve difficulties in the collection of national data about foster carers is on-going. Fieldwork involving a sample of local authorities has recently taken place in order to contribute to the development of an informative and workable data collection, the first results of which we expect to receive in 2007.

Higher Education

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the effect on (a) the science and knowledge base of regions and (b) regional development of the system for allocating research funding to higher education institutions;
	(2)  what discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister onthe links between university research funding and tackling regional productivity differences; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend and I welcome the contribution that higher education is making to national and regional economic development and have discussed this on a regular basis with a wide range of partners, including representatives of the higher education sector, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and other Government Departments. Although we have no present plans to change the system whereby HEFCE's research funding allocations reward research excellence wherever it is found, the Higher Education Innovation Fund continues to support universities' capacity to interact productively with business and the community. The third phase of the fund will run from 2006–08 and will guarantee all HEFCE-funded higher education institutions a minimum allocation from a total budget of more than £200 million. We also welcome the work that regional partners, including the regional development agencies, are doing to support collaboration, knowledge transfer, innovation and inward investment within their regions.

National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the (a) projects and (b) services run by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children which have received public funding in each of the last three years; and what the (a) amount and (b) duration of each grant was.

Maria Eagle: holding answer 29 November 2005
	The Department for Education and Skills awarded the NSPCC a grant up to 3,085 from the Children and Young People's Participation Fund 2003–04 for an international consultation event on 19–20 February 2004 in Belfast, to enable children and young people to meet together and with members of the NSPCC's board of trustees.
	This is the extent of Department for Education and Skills grant funding to the NSPCC.
	The NSPCC does receive public funding in relation to services it provides from local authorities and possibly other public bodies but this information is not held centrally.

Pre-school Education

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the merits of (a) informal and (b) formal pre-school education;
	(2)  what research she has commissioned into the long-term effects of pre-school education for (a) emotional and social development and (b) attainment at key stage1.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 24 November 2005
	To assess the benefits of funded early education, delivered in a wide range of both maintained and private, voluntary and independent settings, my Department commissioned the effective provision of re-school education (EPPE) study. This study, which began in 1997, follows 3,000 children from the age of three to the end of key stage 2. So far, the study has demonstrated that there are benefits of pre-school education for attainment and social and emotional development in key stage 1. Other findings include that children with experience of pre-school education demonstrate significantly higher attainment in KS1 national assessments in mathematics and English compared with children who have no experience of pre-school education. The EPPE study will continue to follow children's development to the end of key stage 2. Further information can be found at www.dfes.gov.uk/research
	This study found that the children of those parents who actively engaged in activities such as teaching songs and nursery rhymes and reading to the child did better at the end of key stage 1 compared to children whose parents did not engage in such activities.
	My Department has also commissioned the University of Bristol to look at the impact of different types of childcare (including informal care, for instance with relatives) on children's behavioural and cognitive outcomes at ages five and seven, using data from the Avon longitudinal study of parents and children. We will publish a report of these findings in early 2006.

Sure Start

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many three and four-year-olds in (a) Staffordshire and (b) Tamworth constituency are receiving (i) 12.5 , (ii) 15 and (iii) 20 hours a week free early-years education.

Beverley Hughes: Information is not collected in the form requested.
	All four-year-olds have been entitled to a free early education place since 1998 and from April 2004 this entitlement was extended to all three-year-olds. The free entitlement consists of a minimum of five two and a half hour sessions per week for 33 weeks of the year for six terms before statutory school age, which is the term following their fifth birthday.
	Some local authorities may additionally offer subsidised child care places but this information is not collected centrally.
	Figures for January 2005 show that all four-year-old children receive some form of free entitlement. The figure for three-year-olds is 96 per cent. This covers all maintained, private, voluntary and independent providers and represents 535,100 three-year-olds and 568,300 four-year-olds.
	In January 2005 in Staffordshire local authority there were 6,700 free nursery places taken up by three-year-old children. The equivalent figure for four year olds was 8,400. Information for private and voluntary providers is not currently available for Tamworth constituency in 2005.
	The latest figures on early education places for three and four-year-olds in England were published in Statistical First Release 43/2005 Provision for children under five years of age in England—January 2005 (final)" in September, which is available on my Department's website http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000604/index.shtml.

Youth Matters

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 11 October 2005, Official Report, column 457W, on the Youth Matters Green Paper, if she will list the companies that have expressed an interest in working with the Government to develop the entitlement card scheme proposed in the Youth Matters Green Paper since 6 October.

Maria Eagle: Since 6 October 2005, Axcess, Validate UK and y-gen Ltd. have expressed an interest in working with the Department for Education and Skills to develop the Youth Opportunity Card scheme proposed in Youth Matters.

Youth Matters

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she plans to publish her response to the consultation on the Youth Matters Green Paper.

Maria Eagle: We are analysing the tremendous response to the consultation, including over 19,000 questionnaires completed by young people, and expect to publish the Government response and next steps in early 2006.

Youth Matters

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she expects to announce the pilots for the youth opportunity card proposed in the Youth Matters Green Paper.

Maria Eagle: I expect to announce the pilot areas in February 2006.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agricultural Shows

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will visit the West Midlands agricultural show in Shrewsbury next summer.

Jim Knight: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and other DEFRA Ministers make every effort to attend public events reflecting the full range of DEFRA's wide ranging responsibilities. Attendance at the West Midland agriculture show will be given every consideration as part of this process.

Agricultural Shows

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State forEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs how many agricultural shows she has visited in 2005.

Jim Knight: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, visited one agricultural show this year.

Berkeley Nuclear Power Station

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects that the site of the Berkeley nuclear power station will be returned to green field status.

Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
	The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) assumed responsibility for the decommissioning and clean up of the UK's civil nuclear legacy on 1 April 2005. The NDA has set out its plans for the decommissioning and clean up of its sites including the proposed closure dates of its fleet of Magnox power stations in its draft strategy. The NDA will seek the views of stakeholders on the site end state and when this should be achieved. The NDA's draft strategy assumes that Berkeley nuclear power station will be returned to green field status by 2083, however, the NDA has been consulting on the possibility of accelerated reactor decommissioning in respect of its Magnox sites. Further details are available in the strategy which can be found at www.nda.gov.uk

Byway Claims

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many applications for byway claims are pending; and how many of these claims have been made in each month since 1 January.

Jim Knight: holding answer 1 December 2005
	This information is held by local highway authorities and could be gathered only at a disproportionate cost.

Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 5 October 2005.

Ben Bradshaw: I have replied to the hon. Member today.

Departmental Websites

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take steps to ensure the Department's websites attain the W3C AAA standard of accessibility for people with visual and other disabilities; and if she will set a target date for this standard to be achieved by.

Jim Knight: It is our policy that our websites should comply fully with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative's guidelines as detailed in UK Government guidelines. These currently require websites to meet the W3C A standard. We aim for compliance with the W3C AA standard, and have already incorporated a number of aspects of the W3C AAA standard identified as best practice. We are taking a number of further steps to improve the accessibility of DEFRA's websites. Work is being undertaken to update older content that may not meet current standards in full, and further work on both technical and authoring issues is intended to enable us to meet higher standards.

Discovering Lost Ways Project

Bob Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many claims have been lodged with the surveying authorities in England since the inception of the Discovering Lost Ways Project.

Jim Knight: As yet, no claims have been logged with the surveying authorities in England as a result of the Discovering Lost Ways Project.
	We expect work on compiling evidence in the two pilot counties of Cheshire and Wiltshire to be complete by the end of March 2006. Further work will be undertaken to assess and develop this evidence for submission to local surveying authorities later in 2006.

Discovering Lost Ways Project

Bob Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate was made by the Countryside Agency, at the time of setting up the Discovering Lost Ways Project, of the distance in kilometres of (a) footpath, (b) bridleway and (c) byway open to all traffic which would need (i)correcting and (ii) adding to the definitive map before it could be considered accurate and complete.

Jim Knight: A study commissioned by the Countryside Agency and the Countryside Council for Wales to identify the size of the potential task of recording lost ways, by reporting on the progress made in bringing the definitive map and statement up to date; and estimate how many unrecorded rights of way are likely to be brought onto the definitive map, reported in March 2002. 70 highway authorities (of 136) responded to the research questionnaire. 20 per cent. of the authorities that responded to the consultation had undertaken structured assessments of the extent of unrecorded rights. Based on these estimates, the report concluded that the number of unrecorded rights in England was likely to be in the region of 20,000. The estimate for the length of additional unrecorded rights was 16,000 km. It was estimated that 58 per cent. of that increase would be in the form of footpaths (9,300 km), 25 per cent. would be bridleways (4,000 km), and the remaining 17 per cent. (2,700 km) would be byways.

Food Labelling

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she has taken since 20 July on best practice guidelines for labelling foods that contain allergies.

Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
	The Food Standards Agency met with consumers and enforcement officers and with representatives of the food manufacturing industry and the catering industry during July to discuss the development of best practice guidelines on the provision of allergen information on non-prepacked foods. A further meeting with all stakeholders has been arranged for 1 December with the intention of subsequently producing draft guidance, which will be the subject of a public consultation.

Freedom of Information

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many freedom of information applications her Department has received since 2000; how many have taken more than 20 days to process; and how many of these gave rise to complaints about the time taken.

Jim Knight: As is shown in the monitoring reportspublished by the Department for Constitutional Affairs (http://www.foi.gov.uk/statsapr-jun05.htm), the Department logged 520 requests for information since the Freedom of Information Act came into force on 1 January 2005 to 30 June 2005. Of these requests, 187 took longer than 20 working days, although the majority (101) were subject to formal extensions. The Department has received four formal requests for internal review of the length of time taken to respond.
	The Department for Constitutional Affairs is committed to publishing quarterly updates in relation to departmental performance under FOI, including information on both the volume and outcomes of requests. The bulletin for the second quarter was published on 30 September 2005 and can be found, together with the bulletin for the first quarter, on the DCA website at http://www.foi.gov.uk/statsapr-jun05.htm and in the Libraries of both Houses. The next bulletin will be published before Christmas, while an annual report will be published in early 2006.

IT Projects

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of the IT projects costing over £1 million in use in her Department and introduced since 1997 have been scrutinised by the Public Accounts Committee; and if she will list them.

Jim Knight: There have been 15 IT projects costing in excess of £1 million that have been developed within and introduced into the core Department since 2001 and are currently still in use. None of these has been scrutinised by the Public Accounts Committee, although there have been some comments on the overarching programmes or schemes requiring the IT projects.

IT Projects

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many IT projects which cost over £1 million and were introduced since 1997 are in use in her Department.

Jim Knight: There are 15 IT projects costing in excess of £1 million that have been developed within and introduced into the core Department since 2001 and are currently still in use.

Maladministration

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many payments for maladministration have been made by (a) her Department, (b) its agencies, (c) its non-departmental public bodies and (d) other bodies for which her Department has responsibility in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: It is the policy of DEFRA, its agencies, non-departmental public bodies and, where appropriate, its sponsored organisations to make financial redress in accordance with the guidance set out in Chapter 18.7 and Annexes 18.1 and 18.2 of Government Accounting".
	However, the information you requested relating to DEFRA's agencies, NDPB's and other bodies sponsored by Defra is not held centrally by the Department and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The information you requested for core DEFRA only is set out in the following table:
	
		DEFRA
		
			  Number of payments made for maladministration 
		
		
			 2001–02 57 
			 2002–03 51 
			 2003–04 15 
			 2004–05 14 
		
	
	DEFRA was created on 8 June 2001, therefore information is only available from financial year 2001–02.

Milk

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will support the launch of a brand of fair trade milk in England.

Jim Knight: In line with our sustainable farming and food strategy, we support any initiative which seeks to reconnect farmers to markets and add value to products.

Navigable Waterways (England)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many rivers in England are navigable by unpowered craft; whether she plans to increase that number; and whether she plans to improve access to those waters for canoeists.

Jim Knight: The lengths of water for canoeing on canals, rivers with public navigation rights, and rivers with formal access agreements in England total some 5,000 km (34 per cent. of the major river and canal network.
	Following a study commissioned from the Countryside Agency into the feasibility of improving recreational access to water, DEFRA has asked the Environment Agency to complete agreements in four pilot areas; the Teme, Waveney, Wear, and Mersey. In addition, we are supporting the Agency in its proposals to work with other stakeholders in developing regional strategies to identify new opportunities for access to rivers and canals.

Navigable Waterways (England)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many negotiated access agreements the Environment Agency has concluded for access to waterways for users of unpowered craft.

Jim Knight: The Environment Agency is on course to complete agreements in the four pilot areas by the summer of 2006. This is expected to create over 70 km of newly negotiated access.
	In addition, the Agency has acted, and will continue to act, as an honest broker in access agreements negotiated by others when requested to do so.

Protected Wild Animals (Internet Trade)

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to combat internet trade in protected wild animals.

Jim Knight: The National Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit based at the National Criminal Intelligence Service has been working with internet service providers in the UK, advising them on the controls affecting the trade in wildlife items, and these providers have responded positively. Ebay, in particular, have recently revised the information given to sellers about the controls relating to the trade in endangered species.

Sick Leave

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of her Department's employees who are within one year of the official retirement age are on extended sick leave.

Jim Knight: There is currently one member of staff in DEFRA who is within one year of retirement and on extended sick leave.

Single Farm Payments

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress she is making in the arrangements for single farm payments.

Jim Knight: Ministers regularly assess the likely timing of Single Payment Scheme awards with officials at the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), which is responsible for the administration of the scheme in England. RPA is still targeting commencing payments in February 2006 and completing 96 per cent. of payments by the end of March, in line with announcements made at the start of the year.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

British Embassies (Overnight Visitors)

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what system is in place to log (a) day and (b) overnight visitors to the British embassies in (i) France, (ii) Germany, (iii) Iran, (iv) Italy, (v) Russia, (vi) Saudi Arabia, (vii) North Korea, (viii) Zimbabwe and (ix) the US.

Ian Pearson: The embassies in these countries log all official visitors by the following means:
	
		
			  Logs 
		
		
			 France Security Office Log Book used day and night 
			 Germany Logging-in form during the day, log Book at night 
			 Iran Log Book used day and night for all official visitors 
			 Italy Logging-in form used day and night for all official  visitors 
			 Russia All official visitors logged in and out electronically 
			 Saudi Arabia All official visitors logged in and out electronically 
			 North Korea Log Book operated at front gate on behalf of UK,  German and Swedish embassies (shared premises) for all official visitors 
			 Zimbabwe Log Book used for all official visitors 
			 USA Log Books used for all official visitors

British Nationals (Deaths Overseas)

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreignand Commonwealth Affairs how many British nationals have been killed abroad in unexplained deaths in the last 12 months.

Douglas Alexander: We do not currently collect detailed information on deaths of British Nationals abroad. In financial year 2004–05 there were 3,925 deaths requiring action by our consular staff. These ranged from accidental deaths to natural deaths where we were asked to provide assistance.

Burma

Brian Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreignand Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the United Nations Security Council to empower the Secretary-General to mediate in Burma in order to bring about national reconciliation and a transition to democracy.

Ian Pearson: We agree that the UN has a vital role to play in Burma. We strongly support the UN Secretary-General's efforts to promote national reconciliation and democratisation in Burma, and agree with his most recent 'good offices' report of 10 October. We also support the work of the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma, Professor Sergio Pinheiro, and the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Burma, Tan Sri Razali, who have not been allowed to visit Burma since November 2003 and March 2004 respectively. We also support the efforts of Ali Alatas, who visited Burma on behalf of the UN Secretary-General earlier this year. We urge the State Peace and Development Council to allow free access for the UN Secretary-General's representatives, and to work closely with the UN and its agencies in the interests of lasting peace and inclusive democratic reform in Burma.

Cambodia

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of progress made in bringing former leaders of the Khmer Rouge to justice in Cambodia; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The UK supports the efforts of the United Nations and the Government of Cambodia to bring to justice some of those who bear the greatest responsibility for crimes against humanity carried out by the Khmer Rouge. A successful outcome to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) will help strengthen accountability, the rule of law and judicial reform in Cambodia and will send a strong international signal that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide will not be treated with impunity.
	Progress in achieving a KRT has been slow to date for many reasons and significant hurdles still need to be overcome. The Government of Cambodia has encountered major difficulties in raising the $13.8 million contribution it is expected to deliver. Less than $2 million has been made available to date. Other factors include finding, selecting and training suitably qualified, experienced and politically independent national judicial staff including judges, prosecutors, investigators etc. who can meet international standards. In that context, we welcome the recent appointments of a director and a deputy director by the Government of Cambodia and the UN respectively. Addressing gaps in Cambodia's national legislation to ensure it is compatible with international criminal law has also proved problematic.
	The UK has been one of the leading financial contributors to the KRT to date. We provided £500,000 in 2004–05 and expect to do so again for 2005–06 and 2006–07. Bilaterally, EU members have pledged a total of $8.5 million approximately and the European Commission has additionally pledged a further €1 million. We continue to underline the importance we attach to a credible Tribunal starting work as soon as possible with the Cambodian authorities at official and ministerial level and have offered our support.

Colombia

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to the Colombian Government regarding implementation of UN human rights recommendations; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 1 December 2005
	Human rights lie at the heart of our policy towards Colombia. We regularly urge the Colombian Government to implement all outstanding UN human rights recommendations arising from successive annual reports of the Colombia office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), and have offered our assistance to achieve this goal. When Vice-President Francisco Santos called on Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials in August 2005, we made clear, as Presidency, the importance the EU attaches to active progress by the Colombian Government in implementing the UNHCHR recommendations. We regularly reinforce this message in our contacts with the Colombian Government.
	In addition, the EU Ministerial Council conclusions, which were agreed on 3 October 2005, state the willingness of the EU to discuss a mid-year progress on the implementation of the UNHCHR recommendations within the framework of the G24, the group drawn from participants in the 2003 London meeting of international support for Colombia, in Bogota. We will continue to look for ways to encourage and assist the Colombian Government to improve the human rights situation in Colombia. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the FCO (Lord Triesman of Tottenham) discussed human rights issues with Vice-President Santos on 28 November 2005.

Colombia

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the paramilitary demobilisation in Colombia.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 1 December 2005
	The UK, in line with the EU, considers that the only viable solution to the armed conflict in Colombia is through a negotiated settlement. We have made it plain to the Colombian Government that the rights of the victims of the armed conflict to truth, justice and reparation must be taken into account in the paramilitary demobilisation process. These issues were raised directly with President Uribe during his visit to London on 14 July. The EU expressed its willingness, in the EU Ministerial Council conclusions of October 2005, to work with the Government, institutions and civil society of Colombia, as well as with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), Michael Fruhling, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and others who may be involved in monitoring the implementation of the judicial process of the demobilisation of the paramilitary groups. The EU also welcomes the continued engagement of the Organisation of American States in accompanying the demobilisation process. The Conclusions also spelled out specific areas of intervention where the EU is willing to assist Colombia in support of the search for peace. While we do have some concerns over the pace of paramilitary demobilisation, we acknowledge that effective and transparent implementation of the recently agreed Colombian Justice and Peace Law would make a positive contribution to the search for peace in Colombia.

Commonwealth

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government are taking to ensure the future effectiveness of the Commonwealth.

Ian Pearson: The UK is committed to a Commonwealth that is effective and able to tackle the challenges of the 21st century, including terrorism and intolerance. We are the largest financial contributor to the Commonwealth, providing 30 per cent. of the Commonwealth Secretariat's funding. We participate fully in Commonwealth organs and rejoined the Commonwealth ministerial action group during the Malta Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 25–27 November.

Departmental Estate

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) land and (b) property his Department (i) owns and (ii) rents in each constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has the following land and property in the UK:
	
		
			 Land/property Type of ownership Constituency 
		
		
			 Main Building (King Charles Street) Owned Cities of London and Westminster 
			 Old Admiralty Building Owned Cities of London and Westminster 
			 Carlton Gardens Rented Cities of London and Westminster 
			 Lancaster House Rented Cities of London and Westminster 
			 Albert Embankment (1 floor) Rented Vauxhall 
			 Apollo House (5 floors) Rented Croydon Central 
			 Hanslope Park (Land and Property) Owned North East Milton Keynes

Common Agricultural Policy

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the French Government regarding reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Douglas Alexander: As my right hon. Friend, the Foreign Secretary, made clear to the House on 1 November, we speak regularly to our French counterparts, as we do with all EU member states, on the way to take forward the negotiations on the EU's budget for 2007–13, including the issue of Common Agricultural Policy reform.

Departmental Expenditure

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Department and its agencies have spent on (a) the design and production of new logos and (b) employing external (i) public relations and (ii) graphic design agencies in each year since 2000, broken down by project.

Ian Pearson: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has spent £18,450 on the production of new logos. We have not employed any external public relations agencies and have spent the following on associated external graphic design agencies since 2000:
	
		
			  Logo £ 
		
		
			 2000 — 0 
			
			 2001 — 0 
			
			 2002 TGi logo 350 
			
			 2003 TGi logo 700 
			  Genie Worldwide logo  
			
			 2004 Temporary Passports logo  
			  Halo logo (widermarkets work for Her Majesty's  Customs and Excise (HMCE)  
			  Excise (HMCE)  
			  CTE logo 5,250 
			  Biometrics logo  
			  Wider Markets logo  
			  Your World  
			  Leadership Conference  
			
			 2005 Mitre logo (wider-markets work for HMCE)  
			  Pluto logo (wider-markets work for HMCE)  
			  Amigo logo (wider-markets work for HMCE)  
			  Metro2 logo (widermarkets work for HMCE)  
			  Talon logo (widermarkets work for HMCE) 12,150 
			  Future Firecrest logo  
			  Gypsy logo  
			  Better World  
			  Antarctic logo

Departmental Staff

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff in his Department have been relocated into London and the South East in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Ian Pearson: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not relocated any staff into London and the South East in the past five years.

Eritrea

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what steps he (a) is taking and (b) has taken towards stopping the persecution of Christians in Eritrea;
	(2)  what representations he has received on the persecution of Christians in Eritrea.

Ian Pearson: We have received various representations, including from members of the public, hon. Members, noble Lords and religious organisations.
	We raise the issue of religious freedom with the Eritrean Government regularly, both bilaterally and with our European partners.
	Most recently, my noble Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Africa (Lord Triesman of Tottenham), raised our concerns with the Eritrean ambassador on 28 July and again on 24 October, and in a letter to President Isaias Afwerki on 6 October.

EU Budget

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made under the UK presidency of the EU to agree a new budget for the EU.

Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, South (Mr. Cunningham) on 28 November 2005, Official Report, column 157W.

Iran

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of talks with Iran about that country's nuclear ambitions.

Kim Howells: There are no negotiations at present between the E3/EU and Iran. On 5 August 2005, the E3/EU presented a comprehensive proposal for long term arrangements intended to give the international community objective guarantees that Iran's nuclear programme was exclusively for peaceful purposes, while equally providing firm guarantees on nuclear, technological and economic co-operation and firm commitments on security issues. Regrettably, Iran rejected this proposal and resumed uranium conversion activities on 8 August 2005, in violation of the framework for talks it had agreed with the E3/EU. The resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors on 24 September and thediscussion at the board's meeting on 24 November have underlined that questions about Iran's nuclear programme remain unresolved. The Secretary-General of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, wrote to the E3/EU on 6 November expressing Iran's interest in resuming talks. In their reply on 27 November, E3 Foreign Ministers and EU High Representative, Javier Solana, expressed the hope that Iran would meet the expectations of the international community and help create conditions that would enable talks to resume. They outlined the European sides willingness to meet to see if a basis for the resumption of negotiations can be agreed.

Iran

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of EU policy on Iran and its nuclear activities.

Douglas Alexander: Iran's nuclear programme continues to be of deep concern to the whole international community. This was highlighted in the resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors on 24 September 2005 and at the Board's most recent meeting on 24 November. Since 2003, the UK, France and Germany, with the support of the EU high representative, Javier Solana, have pursued a diplomatic solution, that would give Iran an opportunity to address international concerns and provide objective guarantees that its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes. These efforts have helped raise international awareness of Iran's activities and have enjoyed increasing support. But, although we have seen limited progress in some areas, the steps taken so far by Iran fall far short of what is required. The E3/EU will continue to engage closely with key partners including Russia, the USA, EU member states and members of the IAEA board of governors to maintain the pressure on Iran to address the international community's concerns.

Iraq

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures arein place to protect his Department's employees in Iraq.

Douglas Alexander: Our staff in Iraq are housed in office and residential accommodation which has been strengthened in line with the demands of the current security situation. All such accommodation is located within protected compounds guarded by armed personnel from a private security company.
	All of our staff are issued with body armour and helmets and attend a surviving hostile regions course before deployment.
	To ensure that our staff are safe when travelling, they are only allowed to travel by air with the Royal Air Force. Staff must travel by road in armoured vehicles, accompanied at all times by armed personnel from another private security company.
	These (protective security) measures are regularly reviewed by local security managers and a London based senior security adviser who visits Iraq on a regular basis.

Labour Camps

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the scale of manufacture of goods in labour camps abroad for sale to other countries; and what steps he is taking to prevent imports of such goods to the UK.

Ian Pearson: The UK has played a leading role in ensuring that the international framework to promote and to tackle abuses of labour rights throughout the world is in place, particularly through our work with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the UN specialised agency responsible for developing, promoting and monitoring labour standards. We play an active role in the ILO Committee on Multinational Enterprises and support the promotion and follow-up of the ILO Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy which seeks to enhance the positive social and labour effects of multinational corporations' operations throughout the world.
	Through its Partnership Agreement with the ILO, DFID is providing more than £2 million to the Special Action Programme on Forced Labour, which has enabled the ILO to significantly deepen and extend its work. In addition we have provided over £2 million to the ILO's regional programmes against forced labour. And our country programmes have made commitments of nearly £12 million to the ILO's anti-trafficking programmes.
	The UK also promotes the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises which recommend standards of responsible business conduct for businesses operating in or from the 37 adhering countries. My department has written to the FTSE 100 companies to raise awareness of these expectations. We have also set out our approach to encouraging environmentally and socially responsible practice internationally in our International Strategic Framework on Corporate Social Responsibility published in March.
	The UK's Department for International Development helps fund the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI): an alliance of companies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and trade union organisations which exists to promote and improve the implementation of corporate codes of practice which cover supply chain working conditions. The ETI's ultimate goal is to ensure that the working conditions of workers producing for the UK market meet or exceed international labour standards.

Nepal

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of steps being taken to restore multi- party democracy in Nepal; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Since the King dismissed Nepal's multi-party Government and assumed direct power on 1 February this year, the UK, along with our international partners, has been seeking to restore multi-party democracy and pressing all concerned to work towards a negotiated political settlement to the conflict.
	In response to the recent announcement between the political parties and the Maoists on the terms of a possible peace process in Nepal, the UK has said that, if by this agreement the Maoists commit to giving up violence and human rights abuses in favour of a democratic political settlement, then this is welcome news for the long- suffering people of Nepal.
	The UK sees an effective multi-party democracy as the only sustainable solution to the problems of Nepal. We continue to support a negotiated political settlement involving all of the parties to the conflict, including the Maoists. This process must involve the King working with the political parties to develop a common agenda for a full return to multi-party democracy and the Maoists renouncing violence unconditionally and putting their weapons verifiably beyond use.
	In this context we have urged the Maoists to extend their present ceasefire as a demonstration of their willingness to enter sincerely into negotiations. At the same time, we have urged the King of Nepal to call a truce, reach out to the political parties and take this opportunity for serious engagement on a negotiated settlement to the conflict.
	The UK, along with our international partners, stands ready to support a meaningful peace process.

Private Military Companies

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department employs private military companies.

Ian Pearson: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not employ private companies overseas for military purposes but it does employ two companies for security purposes: ArmorGroup and Control Risks Group who provide mobile security for our staff and static guarding for our compounds in Iraq, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. Control Risks Group also has a contract to provide a guard force for our missions at Cairo, Moscow, Beijing and Hong Kong.

Race Equality Impact Assessments

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Race Equality Impact Assessments his Department completed between (a) April 2004 and March 2005 and (b) April 2005 and November 2005; and how many assessments in each period resulted in a change of policy.

Ian Pearson: Between April 2004 and November 2005 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has conducted the following Race Equality Impact Assessments (REIA):
	Consular Directorate: the Forced Marriage Unit in this Directorate is currently doing a REIA on whether to make forced marriage a specific criminal offence.
	Human Resources Directorate: a full diversity impact assessment was completed in September 2005 on a major reorganisation of HR Directorate as a result of the Gershon review. The reorganisation is still ongoing and changes have been made to it as a result of the impact assessment.
	Lyons review: the FCO plans to move some of its central London staff to our existing site at Hanslope Park, Milton Keynes. Although a formal REIA was not completed on this, we have taken into account the different populations in these two areas in this work.
	In addition, the FCO has a programme of wide-ranging consultation with external stakeholders, including minority ethnic groups, on its work. Examples of these are included in our Race Equality Scheme.

Small Arms Trade Treaty

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made towards securing non-European support at the UN small arms review conference in July 2006 for the adoption of an international treaty on the trade in small arms.

Douglas Alexander: The UK, in co-operation with a wide range of other partners, has made good progress in building support for agreement at the 2006 UN Small Arms and Light Weapons Programme of Action Review Conference on minimum common criteria to underpin controls on transfers of small arms and light weapons controls, including import, export and transhipment. We already have much non-European support, especially in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and we are working to match that in Asian countries.
	Separate from and outside the UN Programme of Action, which specifically only covers small arms and light weapons and is politically binding, the Government are pursuing the wider, longer term initiative for a legally binding international arms trade treaty to cover the trade in all conventional weapons. Support for this initiative, and for the launch of a formal UN based process, is steadily growing, including among non-European countries.

St. Helena

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 23 November 2005, Official Report, column2135W, on St. Helena, on which dates (a) the Legislative Council in St. Helena disapplied the UK Freedom of Information Act 2000, (b) the notice of intent to disapply the Act was gazetted and (c) the disapplication became effective.

Ian Pearson: The provisional order was made on 11 January 2005. The order was gazetted on 30 March 2005. The motion to ratify the order was debated and passed by the Legislative Council the week commencing 27 June at which time the disallowance of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 became effective.

St. Helena

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 23 November 2005, Official Report, column2135W, on St. Helena, what mechanisms are available to enable the Public Solicitor to be available to members of the public in the light of his being retained by the proposed developers, SHELCO; and if he will make a further statement.

Ian Pearson: The terms of reference of the Public Solicitor require him to provide independent legal advice to members of the public and entities registered on St. Helena. Consistent with his terms of reference, he accepted instruction to act for the proposed developers SHELCO. He now cannot accept instruction from another party to oppose SHELCO. The public on St.Helena are familiar with the position that, should the Public Solicitor be unable to help them, they may seek the help of a lay advocate. There is a small fund which allows lay advocates to seek the advice of a UK solicitor if necessary.

Terrorist Suspects

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to ascertain whether flights being used for the extraordinary rendition of suspected terrorists to countries that practise torture are making use of UK airports.

Ian Pearson: The Government are aware of media allegations about extraordinary rendition" operations allegedly conducted by the United States (US) authorities. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has written to the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, on behalf of EU partners.

Uganda

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreignand Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to support planned multiparty elections in Uganda in 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 1 December 2005
	The UK welcomed the decision of the Ugandan people, in their referendum of 28 July, to endorse the re-introduction of a multi-party political system. On 18 November the UK, as EU Presidency, issued a statement making clear our concerns regarding the recent arrest of the opposition leader, Dr. Kiiza Besigye. It is important that all parties are able, and are seen to be able, to compete freely and fairly in the 2006 elections.
	The UK is an active member of the Kampala based Partners for Democracy Group, which co-ordinates international support for the political transition in Uganda. The Department for International Development has provided £600,000 to the donor funded Election Support Unit and has also committed £400,000 to the national civic education programme. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is currently funding a project to help build capacity in all Uganda's major political parties as they prepare for the 2006 elections.

UN Convention Against Corruption

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many rounds of discussions his Department has held with business groups regarding the UN Convention Against Corruption; which business groups were involved in these discussions; and what concerns were raised by business groups in relation to the convention.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 1 December 2005
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office regularly discusses the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in meetings with businesses and business associations, including with the International Chamber of Commerce and the Confederation of British Industry, as it does in contacts with other stakeholders, especially non-governmental organisations.
	Concerns raised by businesses about UNCAC include the potential misuse of the convention, the scope of UK courts to investigate the substance of corruption allegations made overseas and arbitration mechanisms.

Zimbabwe

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Governments of (a) China and (b) South Africa regarding their support for President Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe.

Ian Pearson: China is aware of our views on Zimbabwe. Our ambassador to the UN has raised Zimbabwe with his Chinese opposite number on several occasions, and has made clear our views in Security Council discussions, most recently on 4 October 2005. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office political director raised our concerns directly with the Assistant Foreign Minister in July, and the embassy in Beijing has discussed Zimbabwe with the Chinese Government at all levels, particularly on the issue of military assistance.
	We discuss Zimbabwe with the Government of South Africa frequently. They are aware that we believe more should be done in the region to put pressure on the Government of Zimbabwe to reform. My right hon. Friend, the Foreign Secretary, raised Zimbabwe with South African Foreign Minister, Zuma, most recently on 7 November at the EU-South Africa Co-operation Council.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Civil Partnerships Act

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total cost has been of awareness campaigns for the Civil Partnerships Act 2004, broken down by campaign.

Meg Munn: The total cost of the awareness campaign for the Civil Partnership Act 2004 has been £30, 648.
	The Civil Partnership publicity materials production costs have been £19, 435.
	The distribution costs of these publicity materials have been £11,213 to date.

Coal Imports

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the coal used for electricity generation in the United Kingdom was imported in each of the last three years.

Malcolm Wicks: In 2004, 57 per cent. of coal used for electricity generation in the UK was imported.

Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when the Minister of State for Energy will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood, of 19 September on behalf of a constituent, Alan Stedall.

Malcolm Wicks: The response to my right hon. Friend has been delayed by administrative issues. The response will be with you in the next few days.

Correspondence

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to reply to Mr. Tony Humphrey's letter to him of 3 November on his announcements on public sector pensions.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 21 November 2005
	My Department has no record of receiving this letter. If the hon. Member is able to provide me with a copy, I will ensure it receives a speedy reply.

Corruption

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2005, Official Report, column 1W, on corruption, when his Department was first informed of the allegations of corruption involving a Department for Trade and Industry employee; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 14 November 2005
	There are sensitivities linked to any allegations made against individuals. I am not in a position to comment on such allegations. However, bribery and corruption are criminal offences and as such dealt with by the criminal justice system. UK Trade and Investment takes such allegations very seriously and co-operates fully with the criminal justice system.

Departmental Estate

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade andIndustry which buildings and sites used by his Department and related agencies (a) have ceased to be used in the last year and (b) will be closed under current plans for relocation.

Alan Johnson: In the last year, the Department has vacated its accommodation in Elizabeth House, York Road, London SE1; 10–18 Victoria Street, London SW1; 4 Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1. In the next 12 months, the Department plans to vacate its accommodation in Oxford House, Oxford Street, London WC1 and two floors of 151 Buckingham Palace, London SW1.

Departmental Staff

John Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry who the Director of Human Resources and Change Management is in his Department; what relevant specialist qualifications he or she holds; and what the details are of his or her career to date.

Alan Johnson: The Director of HR and CM at the DTI is Shirley Pointer. She has over 25 years' experience working as an HR professional within the private sector with substantial experience.
	She has a degree in psychology and is a member of the CIPD.

Departmental Staff

John Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry who the Director of Finance and Resource Management is in his Department; what relevant specialist qualifications he or she holds; and what the details are of his career to date.

Alan Johnson: The (acting) Director of Finance and Resource Management is Adam Jackson, who was formerly Director of Business Planning. He is a career civil servant who has wide experience of the Department, including corporate services and policy delivery. He has no specialist financial qualifications, but is supported by a team of professionally qualified accountants and procurement specialists.

Departmental Staff

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2005, Official Report, column 699W, on departmental staff, what the (a) job role and title, (b) grade and (c) responsibilities are for each of the secondees working in his Department.

Alan Johnson: The following table shows all the people currently working in the Department of Trade and Industry on secondment. The table indicates the job title and notional grade for each secondee and the name of the DTI directorate to which the secondee is attached.
	
		
			  Name  Secondment Job Title Notional DTI Range  DTI Directorate 
		
		
			 Professor Christine Adams Network Technology Advisers Project Manager R10 Technology Innovation and Sustainable  Development 
			 Mr. Lew Adams Export Promoter R10 UK Trade and Investment 
			 Dr. Helen Almey Assistant Director R10 Transdepartmental Science and Technology 
			 Dr. Geoff Archenhold Assistant Director R10 Business Relations 2 
			 Mr. Norman Bolton Programme Supervisor R9 Technology Innovation and Sustainable  Development 
			 Mr. Edwin Bowles Trade Development Advisor Rll UK Trade and Investment 
			 Ms Sara Brazendale Deputy Director R10 Business Relations 2 
			 Mr. David Brooks Assistant Director Rll Business Support 
			 Mr. Michael Cauter Accountant SCS Shareholder Executive 
			 Mr. Andy Clarey Assistant Director R10 Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. Edward Clarke Assistant Director R10 Science and Engineering Base 
			 Ms Jessica Cobb Investigator R9 Corporate Law and Governance 
			 Mr. Brian Nicholas Cook Head Downstream Oil R10 Energy Markets Unit 
			 Mr. Graham Cook Assistant Director Rll Shareholder Executive 
			 Mr. Hugh Crooks Export Promoter/Technical Advisor R10 UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Mark Donougher Head of Global Entrepreneurs Rll UK Trade and Investment 
			 Ms Julia Durham Quality and Training R8 Consumer and Competition Policy 
			 Mr. Kevin Ennis Assistant Director R10 Consumer and Competition Policy 
			 Dr. Andy Feest Industrial Secondee R10 Business Relations 1 
			 Ms Rebecca Garrod Assistant Director R10 Facilitating Innovation 
			 Mr. Michael Gilbert Emergency Planning Project Manager R10 Energy Markets Unit 
			 Mr. Jeremy Goad Export Promoter R10 UK Trade and Investment 
			 Dr. Paul Gower Assistant Director R10 Corporate Law and Governance 
			 Ms Claire Graham Investigator R9 Corporate Law and Governance 
			 Mr John Griggs Construction Products Issues and Impact  Manager R9 Business Relations 2 
			 Mr. William Harris Senior Policy Advisor R8 Consumer and Competition Policy 
			 Mr. Nick Heyes Innovation Advisor R10 Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. Ben Higgin Accountancy Advisor R10 Corporate Law and Governance 
			 Dr. Diane Houston Research and Strategy Advisor Rll Women and Equality Unit 
			 Mr. Thomas Huang Export Promoter R10 UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Robert Hudson Export Promoter Rll UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Jonathan Hughes Financial Adviser Rll Shareholder Executive 
			 Mr. Marcus Jackson Assistant Director Rll Shareholder Executive 
			 Ms Rosie Janes Investigator R9 Corporate Law and Governance 
			 Mr. Gary Kass Assistant Director R10 Science and Engineering Base 
			 Mr. Patrick Keen Assistant Director R10 Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. John Law Export Promoter R10 UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Markus Loebbert Assistant Co-ordinator R7 Europe and World Trade 
			 Mr. Jonathan Lonsdale Project Manager R10 Business Relations 1 
			 Dr. Christopher Mansfield Senior Economist Rll Energy Markets Unit 
			 Mr. Alan McArthur Export Promoter R10 UK Trade & Investment 
			 Mr. lain McCord Senior Policy Advisor R8 Consumer and Competition Policy 
			 Ms. Kathryn Mills Investigator R9 Corporate Law and Governance 
			 Mr Malcolm Mitchell Assistant Director R10 Business Relations 2 
			 Ms Barbara Morton Project Manager R10 Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. Noah Myers Project Manager R10 Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. Daniel Ninan Project Manager R10 Business Relations 1 
			 Ms Emily Nott Technology Innovation Policy R10 Technology Innovation and Sustainable  Development 
			 Mr. Allan Ockenden Export Promoter Rll UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. Ray Parkinson Assistant Director R10 Nuclear and Coal Liabilities Unit 
			 Mr. Phillip Patterson Export Promoter Rll UK Trade & Investment 
			 Dr. Robert Quarshie Chief Analytical Advisor Rll Business Relations 1 
			 Ms Anber Raz Outreach Manager R8 Women's National Commission 
			 Mr. Leon Rogers Programme Supervisor R9 Technology Innovation and Sustainable  Development 
			 Mr. Mark Russell Director SCS Shareholder Executive 
			 Mr. Dave Schultz OFT Transitions Manager R10 Consumer and Competition Policy 
			 Mr. Stephen Senior Director SCS Finance and Resource Management 
			 Mr. Michael Shanks Business Communications Advisor R10 Business Relations 1 
			 Mr. Garth Shephard Assistant Director R10 Office of Science and Technology International 
			 Mr. Gordon Stevenson Investigator R9 Corporate Law and Governance 
			 Mr. Risto Talas Export Promoter R10 UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. David Talbot Senior Policy Advisor R9 Office of Science and Technology International 
			 Mr. Charlie Villar Assistant Director SCS Shareholder Executive 
			 Mr. Neil Viner Assistant Director R10 Science and Engineering Base 
			 Mr. John von Speyr Export Promoter R10 UK Trade and Investment 
			 Dr. Sarah Webb Assistant Director R10 Science and Engineering Base 
			 Mr. Jeremy Webb Assistant Director Rll Shareholder Executive 
			 Ms Barbara Wilson Export Promoter Rll UK Trade and Investment 
			 Mr. John Wright Export Promoter R10 UK Trade and Investment

Domestic Electricity Charges

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the cost of electricity to customers was in England in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Wicks: Estimates of average annual domestic electricity bills in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are published in Table 2.2.2 in the DTI's Quarterly Energy Prices", which can be found on the following website: www.dti.gov.uk/energy/inform/energy prices/index.shtml.

Electricity Supplies

Alan Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what contingency plans his Department has developed for providing power this winter to homes and businesses heated solely by electricity in the event of electricity shortages.

Malcolm Wicks: National Grid's Winter Outlook report shows that under normal weather conditions there are sufficient gas supplies and electricity generation to meet demand. Under much worse than normal winter weather, however, it may be necessary for large industrial users to restrain demand—a perfectly normal market response. Much of this demand reduction can be done through the electricity generating industry switching to coal or other fuels.—Under all credible scenarios, however, the market will be able to deliver energy supplies to domestic consumers.
	Concerning contingency arrangements in the unlikely event of shortages, in the first instance, we expect a commercial response from the market to price signals indicating tightness in the supply-demand balance. National Grid's Winter Outlook report contains a detailed assessment of the extent to which this sector would be able to reduce demand for gas in this way while continuing to meet demand.
	Only if the market fails to balance itself might it be necessary to take contingency measures. The Government has detailed emergency plans in place which have been developed and well rehearsed in close co-operation with industry. Our legislative powers to deal with gas emergencies date back to 1976. We are obviously updating operational response plans on a regular basis and our current plans, which have been thoroughly tested and developed in partnership with industry have been in place for the last three years. However, we would not expect such an eventuality to arise merely as a result of colder than average weather.

Electricity Supplies

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made following the National Grid winter outlook report of what reduction in electricity demand would be required over what period of days to keep electricity supplies in balance.

Malcolm Wicks: This is a matter for National Grid, as system operator.
	National Grid, in its Winter Outlook Report 2005–06, published in October, considers the potential for demand-side response (sections A and C ). The Winter Outlook can be found at: http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/temp/ofgem/cache/cmsattach/12493_214_05.pdf

Energy Definitions

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what definition he uses of (a) fuel poverty and (b) net importation of energy.

Malcolm Wicks: Fuel poverty is defined as the need for a household to spend more than 10 per cent. of its income on all fuel use and to heat its home to an adequate standard of warmth (21C in the living room and 18C in other occupied rooms). There are some minor differences in definition used across the devolved Administrations, and these are set out in The UK Fuel Poverty Strategy of November 2001".
	Net trade in energy is defined as the total quantity of fuels exported less total quantity of fuels imported. There is a net importation of energy when the total quantity imported exceeds the total quantity exported.
	The units of energy used by the Department are expressed in million tonnes of oil equivalent which is a measure of the energy content of the individual fuels. The conversion allows different energy sources to be compared and combined. Quantities of imports and exports are converted from their original units of measurement to tonnes of oil equivalent using weighted gross calorific values and standard conversion factors appropriate to the individual fuel.

Energy Review

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the terms of reference are of the recently announced Energy Review.

Malcolm Wicks: The terms of reference for the Energy Review are set out as follows:
	The Government will review the UK's progress against the medium and long-term Energy White Paper goals and the options for further steps to achieve them. The aim will be to bring forward proposals on energy policy next year.
	The Review will be informed by analysis and options drawn up by a Review team led by myself. This will be a team of Officials drawn from key relevant Departments and my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit. In drawing up the analysis and options, I will undertake extensive public and stakeholder consultation. The Review will be taken forward in the context of the Government's commitment to sound public finances and will take account of all short-term, medium-term and long-term costs and liabilities both to the taxpayer and energy user. The Review team will report to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in early summer.
	Copies of the terms of reference have also been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Energy Supplies (Wales)

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate his Department has made of the total cost of (a) decommissioning nuclear capabilities in Wales and (b) final disposal of their nuclear waste; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) assumed responsibility for the decommissioning and clean up of the UK's civil nuclear legacy on 1 April 2005. The NDA has set out its plans for the decommissioning and clean up of its sites in its draft strategy. The draft strategy indicates that the most recent life cycle baseline costs (which set out the scope, schedule, and cost of work at each site over its life time) in respect of the Magnox nuclear power stations at Trawsfynydd and Wylfa is as follows:
	Trawsfynydd—£1.1 billion;
	Wylfa—£1.7 billion.
	Further details are available in the NDA draft Strategy which can be found at www.nda.gov.uk.
	Options for the long term management of radioactive wastes are subject to consideration and evaluation by the independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) who are due to make a recommendation to Government in July 2006.

Energy Supplies (Wales)

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment his Department has made of the potential for nuclear fission power stations in Wales; what estimate his Department has made of the total life cycle costs of such facilities including full decommissioning and final disposal of waste; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The role of nuclear power in meeting the UK's future electricity generating needs will be examined in the recently announced Energy Review, alongside all other options to ensure the UK remains on track to meet our medium and long-term energy policy goals. Review will need to analyse the costs of all options, including new nuclear, as part of weighing up costs and benefits before a decision can be taken.

Export Support

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what export support for UK manufacturers has been introduced since 1997.

Alun Michael: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), formerly British Trade International, is a joint DTI and FCO operation created in 1999. One of UKTI's key aims is to strengthen the provision of support to exporters, including manufacturers. UKTI provides a range of information, advice and support to potential and existing exporters. Support is tailored specifically to individual company needs. Full detail of the export support available to all companies, including manufacturers, can be found at www.uktrdeinvest.gov.uk.

Gas

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Tradeand Industry what estimate he has made of the average beach gas availability from the UK continental shelf for winter (a) 2005–06, (b) 2006–07 and (c) 2007–08.

Malcolm Wicks: There are currently no publicly available figures estimating UKCS availability for the years 2006–07 and 2007–08. An estimate of beach gas availability for this winter (2005–06) by National Grid, the network operator, can be found at: http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/temp/ofgem/cache/cmsattach/12493_ 21405.pdf.
	Uncertainties regarding facility and equipment reliability, reservoir performance and the weather make availability of beach gas estimates highly complex, and subject to variation.

Gas

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment his Department has made of the availability of gas supplies in the event of a failure of the continental gas interconnector this winter.

Malcolm Wicks: National Grid, in its Winter Outlook report 2005–06, published in October, considers various gas supply assumptions (table 3). The Winter Outlook can be found at: http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/temp/ofgem/cache/cmsattach/12493_214_05.pdf

Gas

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the estimated gas production from the UK's own resources is for each quarter from Q1 2006 to Q4 2008.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department does not make projections of gas production on a quarterly basis. It does publish projections of annual production from the UK continental shelf, in the form of ranges, at http://www.og.dti.gov.uk/information/bb_updates/chapters/Section4_17.htm. For 2006 to 2008 the latest projections of production available for sale (i.e. net of producers' own use) are 85–95 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2006, 80–90 bcm in 2007 and 75–85 bcm in 2008. By comparison, net production in 2004 was 94.5 bcm and is likely to be around 89 bcm in 2005.

Gas

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when his Department first provided information to (a) Ofgem and (b) the national grid about gas production problems in the North Sea to enable gas supply forecasting.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department provides information to Ofgem on unplanned, offshore and gas terminal outages that may have a significant impact on the volumes of gas produced into the National Transmission System. This information has been provided routinely since summer 2004.
	The offshore industry provides national grid with information about significant gas production problems under the terms of an agreement that came into effect in autumn 2003.

Law Firms (Service Claims)

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  if he will break down by law firmthe number of service claims made (a) as a total for each firm and (b) as a percentage of their case holding;
	(2)  if he will break down by law firm the number of group three denials that have been overturned (a) as a total for each firm and (b) as a percentage of their case holding.

Malcolm Wicks: A table containing the information requested in (a) and (b) has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Miners Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average hearing loss settlement made to miners has been in claims submitted by Vendside Ltd.

Malcolm Wicks: Vendside Ltd have not submitted any hearing loss claims. The average settlement in claims submitted by the Union of Democratic Mineworkers is £2,707.

Miners Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been paid to Vendside Ltd (a) in total and (b) per average claim for miners' hearing loss compensation since 1997.

Malcolm Wicks: Vendside Ltd have not submitted any miners' hearing loss claims. The Union of Democratic Mineworkers has been paid £23.7 million in damages for those claimants it represented at an average of £2,707 per claim.

Miners Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what date the first claim for (a) hearing loss, (b) beat knee and (c) industrial accident was registered with his Department by (i) Vendside Ltd and (ii) the Union of Democratic Mineworkers.

Malcolm Wicks: The UDM first registered a hearing loss claim on 3 June 1997 and a beat knee claim on 9 January 2003. The UDM have not submitted any industrial accident claims and Vendside Ltd have not submitted any claims for any of these types.

Miners Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average hearing loss settlement paid to miners has been since 1997 in claims submitted by the 20 solicitors' firms which have submitted most claims; what percentage this represented of the total claims submitted; and what the average amount of fees paid in costs has been.

Malcolm Wicks: Claims from the 20 solicitors' firms who have submitted the most hearing loss claims represent 81 per cent. of the total number submitted. The average settlement in claims handled by these firms is £2,377 and the average cost is £794.

Miners Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which 20 solicitors' firms or others have registered the greatest numbers of miners' hearing loss claims with his Department; and how many claims each has registered.

Malcolm Wicks: The 20 firms with the largest number of miners' hearing loss claims and how many each has registered since 1998 is set out in the table:
	
		
			 Firm Number of claims 
		
		
			 Union of Democratic Mineworkers 10,166 
			 Beresfords Solicitors 3,350 
			 Graysons Solicitors 3,118 
			 Moss Solicitors 2,268 
			 Browell Smith and Co 1,904 
			 Thompsons Solicitors 1,600 
			 Hugh James 1,111 
			 Ashton Morton Slack Solicitors 881 
			 Kidd and Spoor Harper Solicitors 827 
			 O. H. Parsons and Partners Solicitors 743 
			 Corries Solicitors 665 
			 Irwin Mitchell Solicitors 625 
			 Towells Solicitors 581 
			 Watson Burton LLP 470 
			 Meloy Whittle Robinson 469 
			 Endlars Solicitors 420 
			 Morisons Solicitors 415 
			 Mortons Solicitors 408 
			 Latham and Company Solicitors 403 
			 Heptonstalls Solicitors 396

Miners Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many hearing loss claims paid out by his Department since 1997 have required two separate medical tests.

Malcolm Wicks: Of the 28,562 hearing loss claims settled as of 31 October 2005, 553 have required a second medical test.

Miners Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many common law claims have been registered with his Department since 1998 by the Union of Democratic Mineworkers, excluding those registered by Vendside Ltd.

Malcolm Wicks: Since 1998, the Union of Democratic Mineworkers have submitted 22,757 common law claims.

Miners Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many hearing loss claims paid out by his Department have included a payment involving Melex Ltd.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department makes payments to claimants' representatives in hearing loss claims, including, where appropriate, payment for arranging hearing loss tests. The extent to which those representatives use parties such as Melex Ltd. is a matter for them. The Department has had no direct dealings with Melex Ltd. at any time.

Miners Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what hourly rate is paid to Vendside Ltd for work on claims for (a) vibration white finger, (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and (c) hearing loss.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department do not pay Vendside Ltd an hourly rate for handling claims. Claim handling costs for successful claims are met according to handling agreements for vibration white finger and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Vendside Ltd have not submitted any claims for hearing loss.

Miners Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what evidence of insurance indemnity has been provided to (a) his Department and (b) its insurers by (i) the Union of Democratic Mineworkers and (ii) Vendside Ltd for (A) beat knee, (B) industrial accident claims and (C) hearing loss claims in the mining industry.

Malcolm Wicks: This is a matter for claimants. The Department does not hold such information.

Miners Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many miners hearing loss claims submitted by (a) Vendside and (b) others since 1997 have required a second medical examination.

Malcolm Wicks: Vendside have not submitted any miners hearing loss claims. Since 1997, 758 claimants have required a second medical examination, of which 40 were represented by the Union of Democratic Mineworkers.

Miners Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many hearing loss claims from the mining industry have been registered with his Department since 1997.

Malcolm Wicks: As at 31 October 2005, 38,244 miners hearing loss claims have been registered.

Miners Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the claims handlers officials in his Department have met since 1997 to discuss mining hearing loss and knee claims.

Malcolm Wicks: No meetings have been held with officials, although the Department's contractors have met representatives from solicitors firms and the Union of Democratic Mineworkers to discuss hearing loss and knee injury claims.

National Grid

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much electricity in megawatts was lost to heat from the national grid in each year since 2000.

Malcolm Wicks: Heat is energy and may be expressed in watt-hours, rather than in megawatts, which are units of power.
	The amount of generated energy lost to heat in the national grid transmission system in each year was as follows. The figures are expressed in megawatt-hours (i.e. MWh):
	
		
			  MWh 
		
		
			 2000–01 4,750,000 
			 2001–02 4,370,000 
			 2002–03 4,330,000 
			 2003–04 4,510,000 
			 2004–05 4,450,000

National Minimum Wage

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employees in his Department were affected by the rise in the national minimum wage on 1 October.

Alan Johnson: In the Department of Trade and Industry there were no employees affected by the increase in the national minimum wage on 1 October 2005.

New Power Stations

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total generating capacity is of proposals for new power stations being considered by his Department.

Malcolm Wicks: 7,667 megawatts.

Nuclear Power

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what evidence he is taking into account when reviewing the future role of nuclear energy in the United Kingdom.

Malcolm Wicks: The forthcoming Energy Review will undertake an extensive analysis of evidence relating to a wide range of different energy technologies.
	The terms of reference for the Energy Review have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Nuclear Power

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received advocating renewed provision of nuclear power.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department receives many representations from the public and commercial companies, which both advocate and oppose the renewal of nuclear power.

Nuclear Power

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much public money has been earmarked for investment in future nuclear fission development; and how much of that money is expected to be spent on the Generation IV Scheme.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 1 December 2005
	DTI has allocated £10 million, £5 million in 2006–07 and £5 million in 2007–08, to support UK involvement in international research on advanced nuclear energy systems. Much of this is expected to fund UK research on Generation IV systems for potential international deployment from around 2030; the exact amount will depend on the mix of research proposals that are submitted. The initiative will support UK skills needed to keep open the nuclear energy option and our capability to keep abreast of international developments and inform UK policy development.
	The Research Councils have allocated £6 million to a consortium for research to Keep the Nuclear Option Open" which commenced in October 2005 for four years (of which a small element will focus on Generation IV technologies). EPSRC intends to award up to £5 million to support an Engineering Doctorate Centre in Nuclear Skills, which will have a first intake of students in autumn 2006, and in May 2005 awarded £l million for a masters level training package—the Nuclear Technology Education Consortium (NTEC).

Nuclear Power

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) safety and (b) financial tests will be used to determine whether the building of further nuclear power stations will be approved.

Malcolm Wicks: The information is as follows:
	(a) An operator may not begin construction of a new nuclear power station until a licence has been granted by the Health and Safety Executive. Before granting that licence HSE will need to be assured that the plant is robustly designed to ensure high levels of safety throughout its operation and eventual decommissioning. HSE has published its Safety Assessment Principles which guide its assessment of a prospective licensees safety submissions.
	(b) The Energy Review will need to analyse costs of new nuclear power, alongside other technologies, as part of weighing up costs and benefits before a decision can be taken.

Nuclear Power

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment the Department has made of the potential for nuclear power to increase its share of the national grid's electricity supply over the next 50 years.

Malcolm Wicks: The role of nuclear power in meeting the UK's future electricity generating needs will be examined in the recently announced Energy Review, alongside all other options to ensure the UK remains on track to meet our medium and long-term energy policy goals.

Overhead Power Cables

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the estimated cost of repairs to overhead power cables was in each month since January 2000.

Malcolm Wicks: Expenditure to repair distribution overhead power lines was £47.1 million in 2000–01, £46.2 million in 2001–02, £71.8 million in 2002–03, £53.7million in 2003–04 and £53.1 million in 2004–05.
	These figures are taken from data provided by the network operators to Ofgem.
	Ofgem does not require the network companies to provide information on a monthly basis—to do so would place an unduly onerous burden on them.

Overseas Trade

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total value of UK trade with (a) India, (b) China, (c) the EU, (d) the USA and (e) Russia and the former Eastern bloc countries was in each year since 1995.

Ian Pearson: The figures requested are shown in the following tables.
	
		Exports of goods and services -- £ billion
		
			  India China EU25(10) USA Russia 
		
		
			 1995 2.1 1.0 111.2 28.5 1.2 
			 1996 2.1 1.0 120.3 33.1 1.3 
			 1997 2.1 1.1 121.9 35.2 1.6 
			 1998 1.7 1.2 124.7 36.3 1.4 
			 1999 2.0 1.7 130.5 41.5 0.8 
			 2000 2.6 1.9 144.5 48.2 1.1 
			 2001 2.5 2.3 148.6 48.0 1.3 
			 2002 2.4 2.2 149.8 49.9 1.5 
			 2003 3.0 2.8 148.6 50.9 2.1 
			 2004 3.0 3.4 150.8 51.3 2.3 
		
	
	
		Imports of goods and services -- £ billion
		
			  India China EU25(10) USA Russia 
		
		
			 1995 1.7 2.0 115.4 28.4 1.2 
			 1996 2.0 2.3 125.0 32.6 1.4 
			 1997 2.0 2.5 125.8 34.4 1.6 
			 1998 1.9 3.0 130.4 36.2 1.6 
			 1999 2.1 3.7 141.0 36.9 1.5 
			 2000 2.3 5.1 151.8 41.4 1.7 
			 2001 2.6 6.2 162.9 42.9 2.3 
			 2002 2.6 7.2 174.8 38.2 2.2 
			 2003 2.9 8.8 178.3 36.2 2.7 
			 2004 3.3 10.9 182.6 35.6 3.9 
		
	
	(10)European Union figures cover current member states, except that 1995–98 figures exclude Cyprus and Malta.
	Notes:
	1.Since some of the former Eastern bloc countries are now in the European Union, the final column only gives figures for Russia.
	2.Figures are shown on a balance of payments basis at current prices.
	Source:
	UK Balance of Payments Pink Book" 2005, Table 9.3

Postcodes

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether there are plans to remove responsibility for management of postcodes from the Royal Mail.

Barry Gardiner: No.

Power Stations

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many applications for the building of new power stations he is considering; and how many of these are for power stations in Wales.

Malcolm Wicks: There are currently 12 applications under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 for consent to construct new power stations, three of which are in Wales.

Protection of Trading Interests Act

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the operation of the Protection of Trading Interests Act 1980.

Ian Pearson: The Protection of Trading Interests Act (PTIA) was enacted in 1980 to counter US assertions of extraterritorial jurisdiction in the late 1970s. The PTIA was modified in 1996 by an order under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in order to give effect to Council Regulation (EC) 22717 96, otherwise known as the EU Blocking Statute, which prohibits compliance with the US embargo on Cuba. Although the PTIA was introduced as a defence against US extraterritorial attempts to assert its jurisdiction, the Act does not relate specifically to the US and can be invoked against any third country attempting to assert extraterritorial jurisdiction in the UK.
	Three orders have been made under section 1 of the PTIA:
	Protection of Trading Interests (US Re-export Control) Order1982 (SI 1982/885);
	Protection of Trading Interests (US Antitrust Measures) Order1983 (SI 1983/900);
	Protection of Trading Interests (US Cuban Assets Control Regulations) Order 1992(811992/2449).
	There has also been one order made under section 5, the Protection of Trading Interests (Australian Trade Practices) Order 1988 (SI 1988/569).
	However, its terms have not been invoked since the introduction of the EU Blocking Statue in 1996, and in recent years the role of the PTIA has shifted from a means of enforcement to that of a deterrent.

Public Service Agreements

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the data required to measure 2004 public service agreement target 2 are published.

Alan Johnson: The indicators used to measure PSA 2 are set out in the technical note for that target. This is available on the DTI website at http://www.dti.gov.uk/pdfs/psa_2.pdf. The technical note also provides detail of the data sources used for each indicator.
	The Department reports twice a year on progress towards achieving PSA targets—in the autumn performance report and the spring departmental report. This includes the most recent available data for all PSA 2 indicators. The first assessment of progress towards the PSA targets set out in the 2004 spending review will be in the forthcoming autumn performance report 2005, which will be laid before Parliament in mid-December.

Redundancy/Early Retirement

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he plans to introduce (a) voluntary redundancy and (b) early retirement schemes within his Department during the next two years; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: The Department is currently running a small scale early severance scheme as one of a package of measures to redeploy staff displaced as a result of headcount reductions. My Department may run small scale schemes during the next two years to deal with areas where staff cannot be redeployed by alternative means. A large number of staff have already left the Department under early severance schemes run during 2004 and 2005.

Renewable Energy

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research he has evaluated on the efficiency of (a) wind turbines and (b) wave and tidal power sources.

Malcolm Wicks: For conventional generators, efficiency is the delivered energy expressed as percentage of the fuel input to the generator. However, given that the fuel source for wind, wave and tidal power is limitless and free, its efficiency does not have the same meaning as conventional power stations.
	The capacity factor (or load factor) of an electricity generator is a relative measure of the output of the device. The capacity factor expresses the output of the generator over a given time period (typically one year) as a percentage of the theoretical maximum output of the generator over the same time.
	A paper by the Environmental Change Institute on Wind Power and the UK Wind Resource, suggest that the annual capacity factor for wind power in the UK (long-term average of over 27 per cent.) compares favourably to that of Denmark (around 2 per cent.) and Germany (around 15 per cent.). The expansion of wind power to higher wind speed locations, including offshore, may result in capacity factor increasing in the future.
	A similar paper by the Environmental Change Institute on the Variability of UK Marine Resources also includes information on wave and tidal capacity. A copy of both reports are available from their website http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/

Royal Mail Services

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the Home Secretary's answer of 24 November 2005, Official Report, columns 2319–20W, on passports, if he will instruct Royal Mail to investigate (a) how the passport of Mrs. Valerie Veale of Winchester (Royal Mail ref 1–1601472618) was lost in the post, (b) why it was sent to the South Kensington sorting office and (c) why it was delivered to the Natural History Museum.

Barry Gardiner: This is an operational matter for Royal Mail. The chief executive has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Senior Appointments (Departmental Agencies)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on how many occasions, in respect of senior appointments for agencies administered by his Department, the appointed candidate was not the highest-score candidate at interview for each year since 1997; and what (a) the sex of the person appointed and (b) the sex of the highest-scoring candidate was in each case.

Alan Johnson: This information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Solar Photovoltaics

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his Department's estimate is of the amount of capital grant support required to deliver the Government's White Paper commitments to a 10 year solar photovoltaics programme in line with Germany and Japan.

Malcolm Wicks: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to his question number 29979.

Staff Discipline

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employees have been dismissed by his Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Alan Johnson: The number of employees dismissed from the Department in each year since 2001 is as set out on the following table.
	
		
			  Number of employees dismissed 
		
		
			 2001 3 
			 2002 5 
			 2003 15 
			 2004 16 
			 2005 to date 18 
		
	
	The Department has procedures in place to deal with misconduct, unsatisfactory performance and poor attendance. These are developed in consultation with the trade unions and are available to all staff on the Department's intranet or in hard copy.

UK Trade and Investment

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to his answer of 1 November 2005, Official Report, columns 864–65W, on UK trade and investment, how many employees within UK trade and investment (a) are locally employed in overseas jurisdictions and (b) are seconded from the UK.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given today to his question number 21617.

UK Trade and Investment

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many (a) employees and (b) consultants working for (i) UK Trade and Investment and (ii) each regional development agency are working overseas, broken down by (A) city and (B)country.

Ian Pearson: I have placed a table in the Libraries of the House that sets out information on people working for UK Trade and Investment overseas using Foreign and Commonwealth Office figures for the current financial year. In this table UK Trade and Investment's operations are shown broken down by market—normally an individual country—and by the location of the individual posts within the market concerned. As regards personnel, UK Trade and Investment is a joint Department of Trade and Industry and Foreign and Commonwealth Office organisation, and is not an employer in its own right. Consequently it has no employees of its own. The majority of people deployed on its overseas operations are either staff of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who are sent abroad on diplomatic terms and conditions (and referred to in the tables which follow as UK-based"), or locally-engaged employees of the embassy, high commission or consulate general in question (referred to in the tables which follow as LE"). There is no centrally held data on consultants engaged overseas, and acquiring it separately from each FCO Post overseas would involve disproportionate cost.
	Regional Development Agencies
	
		Advantage West Midlands
		
			
			 Country Town Staff/consultants (FTE) 
		
		
			 Australia Melbourne 0.5 (Consultant) 
			 Belgium  1 
			 France  1 
			 Germany  1 
			 India  0.25 (consultant) 
			 Japan  1 
			 North America  Corporation  British Midlands Development employees 
			  Boston ½ 
			  San Jose ½ 
			  Washington DC ½ 
			  Chicago 1 1/5 
			 Sweden  1 (consultant) 
		
	
	Note:
	FTE=Full-time equivalent
	East of England Development Agency (EEDA)
	The East of England Developments Agency EEDA has an inward investment office in San Jose (Silicon Valley) a joint project between EEDA and Invest East of England. There are no representatives as the office is co-ordinated by the vice-president for business development at Invest East of England.
	EEDA also subscribes to the East of England partnership office in Brussels and the Essex and East of England International Trade office in Jiangsu Province China (but does not have offices or representatives).
	
		East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA)
		
			 Country Town Staff (FTE) 
		
		
			 Australia Sydney 1 (shared with AWM) 
			 Germany Munich 1 part-time consultant 
			 India  1 shared with AWM 
			 Japan  2 shared with AWM 
			 North America  7 shared with AWM (see town list above) 
			 Sweden  1 part-time consultant 
		
	
	Note:
	FTE=Full-time equivalent
	London Development Agency (LDA)
	LDA has no overseas offices.
	North West Development Agency (NMDA)
	The North West Development Agency has an office with two members of staff (one full time and one part time) in Japan.
	As part of a North of England collaboration (a joint venture with One NorthEast and Yorkshire Forward) there are offices in Australia (Sydney) (one person—consultant on three year contract) and North America: Chicago (six people), Boston (two people), Atlanta (two person) and Los Angeles: (two person full time and one person part time).
	The NWDA with the North West Regional Assembly (NWRA) jointly fund an office and two members of staff in Brussels.
	
		One NorthEast
		
			 Country Town Staff (FTE) 
		
		
			 Japan Tokyo/Osaka 2.5 
			 China Shanghai 3 
			 South Korea Seoul 0.5 
		
	
	
		South East England Development Agency
		
			 Country Town Staff (FTE) 
		
		
			 Japan Osaka 1 
			  Tokyo 1 
			 South Korea Seoul 1 
			 China Shanghai 1 
			 USA Boston 1 
			  Orange County 1 
			 Australia Sydney 1 
			 Belgium Brussels 2.6 
		
	
	
		South West of England Regional Development Agency (SWRDA)
		
			 Country Town Staff (FTE) 
		
		
			 Japan Tokyo 2 staff and 2 consultants 
			 China Shenzhen 2 consultants 
			 Australia Melbourne 1 consultant 
			 USA Boston 1 staff member 
			 USA San Francisco 1 staff member 
		
	
	
		Yorkshire Forward
		
			 Country Town Staff 
		
		
			 China Hangzhou 2 
			 Japan Tokyo 4 
			 USA Chicago/Atlanta/Boston/LA 12 
			 Australia Sydney 1 consultant 
		
	
	Note:
	FTE=Full-time equivalent
	The staff in Japan/USA and Australia all represent the North of England, not just Yorkshire Forward.

Wind-generated Electricity

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what contribution (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind-generated electricity made to the UK's electricity supply system on each day from 16 November to 23 November; and what capacity factors were recorded by individual wind farms on each day during this period.

Malcolm Wicks: The Government do not collect information on the contribution of onshore or offshore wind generated electricity to the UK's electricity supply, or the capacity factor of individual wind farms, on a daily basis.
	Information on the annual contribution of onshore and offshore wind generated electricity is published in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES). A copy of DUKES is available from the Libraries of the House. Information on load factors is also published on an annual basis and available from the DTI's website http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy.
	A paper by the Environmental Change Institute on Wind Power and the UK Wind Resource, suggests that the annual capacity factor for wind power in the UK (long term average of over 27 per cent.) compares favourably to that of Denmark (around 20 per cent.) and Germany (around 15 per cent.). The expansion of wind power to higher wind speed locations, including offshore, may result in capacity factor increasing in the future.

World Trade

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on progress in the current round of international trade negotiations.

Ian Pearson: The draft text for the Hong Kong Ministerial was issued on 26 November by Pascal Lamy, Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Lamy will now consult further with Members before the General Council meeting on 1–2 December, which will submit the text for discussion by Ministers in Hong Kong.
	All WTO members need to come to Hong Kong ready to make tough political decisions that will secure a pro-development outcome and enable the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) to be concluded by 2006.

World Trade

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Government's priorities are for the World Trade Organisation talks in December.

Ian Pearson: The UK Government's priority for the Hong Kong ministerial conference is to secure agreement to a package that is pro-development, helps build a more competitive European economy and allows a conclusion to the round by the end of 2006.

World Trade

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what changes he is seeking to make to the EU's negotiating position in advance of the World Trade Organisation's ministerial conference in Hong Kong; and if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom's objectives for this conference.

Ian Pearson: The UK Government's priority for the Hong Kong ministerial conference is to secure agreement to a package that is pro-development, helps build a more competitive European economy and allows a conclusion to the round by the end of 2006.
	As presidency, the UK's main role during the ministerial conference will be to support the European Commission in its role as negotiator, liaising with member states to develop a flexible EU position that will help progress negotiations. The UK has every confidence in the Commission's grasp and understanding of its negotiating mandate.

World Trade

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to reflect the needs and interests of developing countries at current World Trade negotiations on agriculture.

Ian Pearson: The needs and interests of developing countries are at the heart of the current World Trade negotiations. The Department of Trade and Industry works closely with other relevant Government Departments, in particular the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for International Development, to design UK trade policy and influence the EU trade policy position.

World Trade

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish the data that were used as a basis for UK support for the non-agricultural market access negotiations at the World Trade Organisation.

Ian Pearson: There is a wide range of analysis, including by international organisations such as UNCTAD (United National Conference on Trade and Development), World Bank and (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) OECD, which has been used to inform UK policy on NAMA. These analyses draw on published trade and tariff data collected by the above organisations.

World Trade

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department will take to deliver fair and free trade at the forthcoming World Trade Organisation ministerial in December.

Ian Pearson: The Government are committed to achieving an ambitious, pro-development package at the WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong in December, which will allow a successful conclusion to the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) by the end of 2006.
	The DDA has the potential to deliver a freer and fairer trading system, through substantially increased market access for developing countries and the dismantling of trade-distorting subsidies by industrialised countries, with poor countries given the flexibility to decide, plan and sequence trade reforms. The Department is pressing for as much progress as possible towards a deal at the Hong Kong ministerial.

World Trade

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will support measures to allow developing countries to set their level of tariff reductions in accordance with their development needs at the World Trade Organisation Hong Kong ministerial meeting.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Winchester (Mr. Oaten) on 7 November, Official Report, column 57W.

World Trade

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to implement the UK's commitments to ensure that developing countries are not obliged to open up their markets through international trade agreements.

Ian Pearson: We are working closely with relevant Government Departments, particularly the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for International Development, to influence the EU trade policy position and achieve an ambitious, pro-development outcome at Hong Kong in line with the UK's objectives.

World Trade

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he will take to ensure full account is taken of the interests of developing countries during the World Trade Organisation negotiations in Hong Kong in December.

Ian Pearson: The needs and interests of developing countries are at the heart of the current World Trade negotiations. The Department of Trade and Industry works closely with other Government Departments including the Department for International Development and The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to design UK trade policy and influence the EU trade policy position.
	The UK is supporting meaningful special and differential treatment for developing countries in every part of the negotiation. The UK is supporting the right of developing countries to plan and sequence reforms in line with national poverty reduction strategies and the right for LDCs to make no new commitments at all. The UK is also working to encourage other WTO members to offer full duty and quota free market access to least developed countries as the EU already does.
	Outside of the WTO, the UK has agreed to treble our trade related assistance to help the poorest countries build their supply side capacity to trade to £100 million per annum by 2010. As a donor we are also actively engaged in discussions to design the World Bank enhanced integrated framework on 'Aid for Trade'.

World Trade

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his targets are for the Doha development round at the Hong Kong ministerial meeting in December; what assessment he has made of the implications of failing to reach an agreement in Hong Kong; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The UK Government's target for the Hong Kong ministerial conference is to secure agreement to a package that is pro-development, helps build a more competitive European economy and allows a conclusion to the round by the end of 2006.
	Many issues remain to be resolved in the negotiations and reaching agreement on as many of these as possible in Hong Kong will be critical to meeting the 2006 deadline. This deadline, which is widely accepted, stems from the expiry of the US Trade Promotion Authority in 2007.